P2!R-1742p1r1_i - OAS
DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION BROADCASTING IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE
Permanent Consultative Committee II:
Radiocommunications including Broadcasting
. [pic]
Inter-American Telecommunication Commission
Organization of American States
Reference: CCP.II-RAD/doc. 1201 rev.1
CITEL
Inter-American Telecommunication Commission
1889 F St.NW # 348
Washington, D.C. 20006
United States of America
For additional information, please contact to:
Larry Olson
Chair of the Working Group on Broadcasting
Tel. +1 (202) 418-2142
Fax. +1 (202) 418-6131 /0398
e.mail: larry.olson@
or
Executive Secretary of CITEL
Tel: +1 202 458 3004
Fax: +1 202 458 6854
e-mail: citel@
®© CITEL, April 20082011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the CITEL.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3
1.1. Benefits of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Broadcasting 3
1.2. CITEL’s DTT Broadcasting Implementation Guide 4
2. DTT BROADCASTING 5
2.1. Broad Goals of DTT Broadcasting 5
2.1.1 Improved Technical Quality 5
2.1.2 Increased Quantity and Variety of Services 6
2.1.3 New Information Services and Social Inclusion 6
2.1.4 Service to Hand-Held Receivers and Mobile Services 6
2.1.5 Spectrum Efficiency and Recovery 7
2.1.6 Industrial Development and Economic Growth 7
2.1.7 Other Goals 7
2.2 DTT Policy Topics 7
2.3. The Importance of Spectrum Planning for DTT Broadcasting 8
2.4. Capability for Mobile and Portable Services 9
3. NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES 10
3.1. Argentina 19
3.2. Brazil Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3. Canada 59
3.4. Colombia 62
3.5. Dominican Republic Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.6. Guatemala 89
3.7. Mexico 91
3.8 Paraguay 117
3.9. Peru 121
3.10. United States 126
3.11. Uruguay 144
3.12. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Error! Bookmark not defined.
4. EXAMPLES OF DTT SERVICES, APPLICATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES 165
4.1. CBS (Attachment 6-1) 165
4.2. WRAL (Attachment 6-2) 165
4.3. APTS (Attachment 6-3) 165
4.4. TV Globo (Attachment 6-4) 165
4.5. Televisa (Attachment 6-5) 165
4.6. Implementation Approaches and Cost Implications 165
4.7. Others 165
Appendix 1 166
Appendix 2 168
Appendix 3 168
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
This Guide explains the benefits of digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting and is intended to assist OAS member states in their efforts to plan for and implement DTT, by sharing the experiences of those countries that have already undertaken significant efforts in this area.
The implementation guide was prepared, according to the guidelines given in resolutions PCC.II/RES.11 (II-03) and PCC.II/RES.18 (IV-04), to help each administration implement whatever DTT system best fits its needs, taking into special account the social, economic, and industrial conditions of that country. It should be noted that this implementation guide does not mandate the use of any particular DTT standard.
1.1. Benefits of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Broadcasting
In the Americas, terrestrial television broadcasting is one of the most ubiquitous and important mass communications media for delivering news, information, cultural programs, and entertainment free of charge. With a population of more than 800 million, there are currently over 400 million television sets in the Americas, and this number continues to grow. Broadcasts reach more than 90% of households in most countries.
Television is a vital part of the region’s communications and information infrastructure. During this decade, the region’s national television broadcasting systems are being upgraded from analog to digital technology, keeping pace with the technological advances that are reshaping all types of global telecommunications. The transition to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting is a revolutionary change that will dramatically affect the future of free over-the-air television in the Americas. DTT technology allows each broadcaster to provide a huge wireless information pipeline into every home, delivering up to 20 million bits per second through each 6 MHz broadcast television channel. This capability not only permits the transmission of dramatically sharper images and CD-quality surround sound but also supports a much greater quantity and diversity of TV programs. And it makes possible an entire new array of information services, including services to mobile and handheld receivers, and interactive capabilities that will help all citizens of the Americas to take fuller advantage of the benefits of the information age, in a more uniform way.
With digital transmission, image and sound quality are improved through significantly enhanced picture and audio presentation capabilities and the elimination of snow, noise and ghost images. Broadcasters can provide one or sometimes two simultaneous programs of high-definition television (HDTV), delivering much sharper, clearer images with six times as much picture information as today’s analog broadcasts. Or, depending on the type of programming, broadcasters can offer four to six or even more simultaneous programs of standard-definition television (SDTV) over their single 6 MHz channel, or combinations of simultaneous HDTV and SDTV programs. In addition, high-quality audio can be provided with advanced multi-channel sound technology. Furthermore, broadcasters can deliver, through the same shared 6 MHz channel, programming specifically suited for portable and handheld receivers, with the necessary robustness for reception with small antennas and in harsh conditions, combined low power requirements, suitable for operation on small batteries.
In addition to these innovative video and audio services, broadcasters can offer a limitless variety of new information services that can offer new business opportunities, while also providing education, health care and other applications that address pressing social needs. Broadcasters will be able to experiment with a variety of innovative offerings and service packages, improving their ability to respond to the marketplace, while continuing to provide free program services and to meet their public-interest obligations. For example, broadcasters can use DTT to deliver tremendous amounts of Internet content to people who might never own a personal computer. Such applications can be delivered to new digital television sets, or to inexpensive converter boxes that allow the digital content to be displayed on existing analog TVs. In this manner, DTT represents an immediate and effective means of promoting social inclusion throughout the region and bridging the “digital divide,” so that all socio-economic segments of society can reap the benefits of this fruitful new technology.
Moreover, broadcasters throughout the region are showing increasing interest in offering their services to people in moving vehicles and to people on the move using cell phones or other handheld devices.
Thus, the conversion to digital television technology represents a quantum improvement in the technical quality of television, plus a quantum improvement in the quantity of television programming available, plus a revolutionary improvement in the information infrastructure of the nations that implement the technology. In addition, because DTT makes much more efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum than analog TV broadcasting, at the end of the transition governments will be able to recapture and reallocate significant amounts of spectrum that can support additional innovative wireless services that will themselves address important societal needs and be engines of economic growth for decades to come.
1.2. CITEL’s DTT Broadcasting Implementation Guide
Over the past 20 years and more, a great amount of effort has been expended throughout the region by thousands of engineers, business people and government policy makers toward the successful development and deployment of DTT technology. DTT broadcasting was first developed in North America, and is fully deployed in the United States using the ATSC Standard, where the cessation of analog television broadcasting will now take place in June 2009. ATSC DTT broadcasts are also on the air in the largest cities in Canada, and in at least nine cities in Mexico. Brazil adopted a DTV standard based on the ISDB-T system , and commercial services were launched in December 2007 and are now on the air in 19 major cities. Honduras adopted the ATSC Standard in January 2007 and four stations are now on the air. Uruguay adopted the DVB-T and DVB-H Standards in August 2007, with trials under way. Colombia adopted the DVB Standard in August 2008, and is expected to launch commercial services soon. Peru adopted the Brazilian version of the ISDB-T Standard in April 2009 and El Salvador adopted the ATSC Standard in April 2009. Many other countries in the region, including Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic are also evaluating plans and policies for the introduction of DTT broadcasting.
CITEL itself has been actively involved since before 2001 to assist the OAS member states in capturing the benefits of this fruitful technology. In October 2003, CITEL’s PCC.II adopted a resolution regarding DTV, which resolved:
1. To encourage Member States to adopt and implement a common Terrestrial Digital Television broadcasting standard.
2. To work together to encourage the successful transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television technology as rapidly as possible, recognizing the economic and social conditions in individual countries.
3. To continue to assist Member States in expediting the implementation of a common hemispheric standard for Terrestrial Digital Television broadcasting.
While this resolution recognized the value of using a common DTT standard throughout the hemisphere and the importance of implementing DTT as rapidly as possible, it did not mandate adoption of any standard.
This resolution along with subsequent resolutions related to the development of this Guide, also recognized the fact that different economic and social conditions in individual countries would necessarily affect the nature and timing of an individual nation’s transition to digital television. The resolution also suggested the important role that CITEL could play in assisting the OAS member states with their individual transitions. Building on this resolution and on extensive discussions within CITEL, in December 2004 CITEL’s PCC.II adopted a further resolution laying out a work plan that centered on the completion of this DTT Implementation Guide, which was intended to allow the OAS member states to learn from each other’s experiences in implementing DTT broadcasting. In assembling these experiences, it is explicitly recognized that different approaches and different policies may well be appropriate for different nations. Nevertheless, the variety of experiences that are already available should be very valuable to those nations that are just now beginning to plan for their transitions to DTT.
Accordingly, this Guide focuses on the essential aspects of the DTT transition process, first regarding them from a broad perspective and then offering a closer look at each country’s particular experience, with the necessary level of detail in order to provide practical, useful advice to prospecting nations. Chapter 2 offers a broad view of DTT broadcasting, covering such aspects as main goals, government policies, and the importance of spectrum planning. Chapter 3 then dives into each nation’s own experience, emphasizing the most relevant matters faced by each one of them. Lastly, Chapter 4 highlights examples of successful DTT services and applications, along with cost-effective approaches for implementing the technology.
Three appendices to the Guide provide an extensive collection of ATSC, Brazilian DTT and DVB standards, recommended practices and implementation guidelines to support DTT broadcasting. This collection of electronic documents is intended to collect in one place all of the necessary technical information and supporting documentation for implementing DTT using either the ATSC, the Brazilian, or the DVB family of standards. If another DTT standard is adopted by an OAS member country, information about that standard may also be included as an appendix.
This Guide is intended to be a living document, updated from time to time to include additional information and especially the experiences of other OAS member states as they embark upon the introduction of DTT broadcasting. In this manner it is hoped that the Guide provides a useful tool to the countries of the region in their efforts to bring the tremendous benefits of DTT broadcasting to their people.
2. DTT BROADCASTING
This chapter discusses the aspects of DTT broadcasting which are of concern to all administrations that intend to adopt it as a replacement for analog terrestrial television. The first section summarizes the broad goals that can be achieved with DTT broadcasting. The second section is dedicated to common policy topics related to the adoption of DTT technology. Finally, the third section discusses the importance of spectrum planning in the analog to digital transition task.
2.1. Broad Goals of DTT Broadcasting
This section is intended to summarize the extensive range of capabilities of DTT broadcasting technology and the broad goals that can be achieved through its application and is neither related to the specificities of the proposed standards nor strictly related to national experiences on the implementation of this technology.
2.1.1 Improved Technical Quality
Digital transmission itself offers a significant improvement in the technical quality of images and associated sound, e.g., by eliminating snow and ghosts. In addition, HDTV offers six times as much picture information, offering much sharper, clearer images, which combined with a widescreen display format and six channels of CD-quality surround sound represents a quantum improvement in the technical quality of broadcast television services. Rapid decreases in the prices of HDTV displays and receivers have contributed to tremendous consumer interest in HDTV products and services.
2.1.2 Increased Quantity and Variety of Services
DTT technology also enables the offering of several simultaneous services of SDTV quality, increasing the quantity and variety of services that can be provided to broadcast television viewers. For example, noncommercial broadcasters can use this capability to provide multiple educational programs to schools and homes. With system configurations designed to maximize the bit rate available in a DTT broadcast channel, a single broadcaster can provide various combinations of such services, for example, one HDTV program, one SDTV program (e.g., a 24-hour news program), and several web pages (e.g., weather maps, sports scores, etc.), all in a single 6 MHz television channel.
2.1.3 New Information Services and Social Inclusion
DTT broadcasting enables a limitless variety of new information services, including interactive services. Information services may be integrated with video programs or independent of such programs. A great deal of interactivity in such applications can be provided simply by downloading substantial information from which viewers can choose. Interactivity can be increased further through the use of a return channel through which viewers can request specific content from the broadcaster. Multiple technologies exist to implement the return channel, including, but not limited to, fixed and mobile networks, broadband connections or even a terrestrial return channel if additional spectrum is available.
The use of DTT to provide information services, including interactive services, represents an important opportunity to promote social inclusion, i.e., to provide education, health care, and other important social services to viewers of all socio-economic segments, including citizens who may never own a personal computer.
2.1.4 Service to Hand-Held Receivers and Mobile Services
In addition to reception by fixed receivers with either external or indoor antennas, DTT broadcasting enables the delivery of programs and applications to hand-held devices, characterized by relatively small displays and the necessity of reduced power consumption. Such devices, typically mobile phones and PDAs, can be equipped with DTT demodulators in order to enable reception of broadcast content anytime and anywhere. As such, these hand-held devices can be considered as a point of convergence between the telecommunication and broadcasting networks. In some cases, services provided to hand-held devices may also be provided independently of the digital terrestrial television service, using additional spectrum.
DTT broadcasting also provides the capability for reception by moving receivers, i.e., in fast-moving vehicles such as trains, buses, boats or automobiles. Mobility does not necessarily involve low battery consumption and typically requires medium to large displays and therefore should not be confused with services provided to handheld devices.
Both mobile reception and service to handheld devices require reductions in the bit rate that can be delivered in a terrestrial channel. Thus, depending on the amount of mobile or hand-held services provided and the robustness of such transmissions, the provision of such services could detract from the quality and/or quantity of services that could be provided to fixed and portable DTT receivers.
2.1.5 Spectrum Efficiency and Recovery
DTT broadcasting makes much more efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum than analog broadcasting, and the conversion to digital broadcasting offers the opportunity to recapture and reuse valuable spectrum for other innovative wireless services. For some countries, this opportunity will be a driving force in the effort to hasten the transition to digital broadcasting.
2.1.6 Industrial Development and Economic Growth
The transition to DTT broadcasting represents significant opportunities to promote industrial development, job creation and economic growth, depending on the individual characteristics of each country and the policy decisions it adopts.
2.1.7 Other Goals
A timely and well-planned introduction of DTT broadcasting can be a major factor in a country’s technological, economic, and social development. To this end, the following goals should also be considered:
• Adaptability to socio-economic conditions
• Allowance for gradual implementation, minimizing social risks and costs
• Taking advantage of economies of scale
• Protection of consumers against premature obsolescence of their analog or DTT products
• Provision of new applications that facilitate access to culture, information, and entertainment
• Promotion of content production and new business opportunities
• Development of solutions that support cultural and educational development
• Promotion of social inclusion, cultural diversity of the country, and the official language through access to digital technology, aiming at democratizing the information
In considering all of these goals, it is of utmost importance that each country establish DTT policies that promote appropriate investments and support business models that will be successful, recognizing the unique economic, social and business conditions that prevail.
2.2 DTT Policy Topics[1]
The establishment of national policies for DTT broadcasting should address several general areas such as:
• Eligibility for DTT licenses and criteria for the use of spectrum
• Procedures for awarding DTT licenses and assigning DTT channels
• Terms and conditions for DTT licenses, including whether the licenses should be linked to analog TV licenses, the duration of licenses, the scope of permitted DTT services, and potential public service obligations
• Transition plans and timetables, including plans shut-off of analog transmissions and the recapture and reuse of spectrum
• Potential specification of minimum requirements for DTT receivers and other consumer electronics products, such as minimum performance requirements and basic features such as all-format decoding in order to protect against premature obsolescence
• Protection of broadcast content against and from unauthorized redistribution, that is, the definition of anti-piracy mechanisms
• Incentives to speed-up the adoption of DTT broadcasting by the general public
• Government programs to guarantee the continuous broadcasting service availability through the analogue switch-off process.
2.3. The Importance of Spectrum Planning for DTT Broadcasting
Developing an efficient and effective plan for making DTT channel assignments in the existing spectrum currently dedicated to analog TV broadcasting is one of the most important and most difficult aspects of planning for a successful transition to DTT, especially in those countries where the television bands are already heavily occupied. The development of DTT channel allotments and assignments is a complex engineering and computational task. Sophisticated models and planning algorithms have been developed by those countries that have already undertaken this task, and these countries are willing to share their experiences and modeling software with other countries in the region.
One of the aspects that need to be taken into account when planning the spectrum assignments for DTT broadcasting is that, differently from analogue reception, digital reception does not degrade gradually with decreasing signal strengths. Rather, it will simply fail when the signal strength falls below a minimum required level, or if the ratio between signal strength and interference plus noise is under a certain threshold, commonly referred to as the minimum required carrier-to-noise ratio, or C/N.
Considering the uncertainties with respect to receiver location and reception conditions that are inherent to the broadcasting service, a careful probabilistic approach has to be taken in the planning process. Location and time signal variations need to be carefully considered in order to guarantee that the minimum signal strength will be available in the majority of situations. Hence, while in analogue broadcasting it is common to consider time and location probabilities of around 50%, acceptable digital coverage may only be achieved when location and time probabilities are in the range of 90% or above. Therefore, the corresponding minimum median field strengths to be adopted will have to be increased by necessary margins to provide the needed reliability. For example, ITU-R Recommendation P. 1546 considers 5.5 dB to be the typical standard deviation of the macro-scale spatial distribution of field strengths, according to its point-to-area prediction model. Consequently, the corresponding margins necessary to provide higher coverage probabilities are show in Table 1.
Table 1
|Coverage target (location |Margin |
|probability) |(correction factor) |
|70 % |3 dB |
|95 % |9 dB |
|99 % |13 dB |
Other effects as the presence of variable multipath interference or unpredictable presence of moving obstacles, may require even higher margins to provide reliability for mobile and portable reception.
2.4. Capability for Mobile and Portable Services
Reception of digital television signals in mobile and portable devices depends on two basic requirements. First, the signal must be robust enough to withstand the adverse conditions typical of the mobile environment, i.e. low antenna gain, low height above ground, and rapidly varying signal strength due to multipath interference. Second, the system must not require too much energy to demodulate and decode the signal, due to the limited capacity and size of batteries in handheld devices.
Signal robustness is typically obtained by the use of low order modulation schemes, such as QPSK and DQPSK, and low rate channel coding, such as 1/2-rate forward error correction (FEC) codes. Other approaches include the stacking of new layers of error correction coding.
Lower energy requirements may be obtained by the use of frequency-band segmentation, which reduces the sampling rate required for demodulation. The band segmentation approach is implemented by the ISDB-T system, which includes a partial reception mode (also known as one-seg). Another approach is to use temporal multiplexing, where the receiver is turned on only during a timeslot of the desired data stream, and is turned off for the rest of the cycle. This approach is adopted by the ATSC-M/H and DVB-H standards.
5. Interactivity
The possibility of carrying data and applications is possibly one of the most attractive features of DTTB systems. It may be represent the bridge between broadcasting services and other telecommunication services, in a scenario of convergence, as television receivers become multifunctional devices, capable to provide many other services beyond displaying image and sound. Interactivity also may require more intelligence from the receiving equipment, as it will have to be able to store and execute multimedia applications.
The subsystem responsible for the intelligence of digital television receivers is often called middleware, as it represents the interface between the internal hardware of the TV receiver, and the software that is broadcast together with the audio and video contents.
Different standards have been developed to implement data services and interactivity for DTTB systems. Some of them are derived from internet and web standards, such as HTML.
2.6 Compression technology
In order to improve spectrum efficiency, and be able to provide better audio and picture quality, as well as a larger number of services in the same amount of spectrum, DTTB relies heavily on compression technology. In digital communication systems, compression is accomplished through the mathematical manipulation of the digitized audio and video signals, in order to translate them into compact digital (binary) representations.
The most popular audio and video compression technologies, which have been adopted by digital terrestrial broadcasting and by many other digital content applications such as DVD, digital camcorders, portable digital audio players, blue-ray discs, etc, have been written by the MPEG group (Motion Picture Experts Group), which is part of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is also linked to the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T).
[TO BE COMPLETED WITH BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MPEG-2 AND MPEG-4 STANDARDS]
3. NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
The main objective of this section is to develop a comprehensive overview of the national perspectives on DTT implementation, helping futures consultations about the best practices adopted in the region. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the access to the available information, it is summarized hereafter the information about DTT implementation and broadcasting services in each of the member-states of CITEL.
I - SUMMARIZED INFORMATION ABOUT DTT IMPLEMENTATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES IN each country of the region
[pic] Antigua y Barbuda
Population (x1000 inhab.): 87
Surface area (sq km): 442
GDP per capita (US$): 14,048.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Argentina
Population (x1000 inhab.): 40,518 (Estimated)
Surface area (sq km): 2,791,810
GDP per capita (US$): 8,357.5
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations: 850
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline: 2019
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB: 470-806 MHz (2010)
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period: Yes
[pic] Bahamas
Population (x1000 inhab.): 338
Surface area (sq km): 1,3943
GDP per capita (US$): 22,102.2
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Barbados
Population (x1000 inhab.): 255
Surface area (sq km): 430
GDP per capita (US$): 14,422.4
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Belize
Population (x1000 inhab.): 301
Surface area (sq km): 22,966
GDP per capita (US$): 4,569.4
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Bolivia
Population (x1000 inhab.): 9,694
Surface area (sq km): 1,098,581
GDP per capita (US$): 1,722.8
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Brazil
Population (x1000 inhab.): 191,972
Surface area (sq km): 8,514,877
GDP per capita (US$): 8,311.1
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations: 10.500
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline: June, 2016
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB: 470-806 MHz
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period: Yes
[pic] Canada
Population (x1000 inhab.): 33,259
Surface area (sq km): 9,984,670
GDP per capita (US$): 45,166.2
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline: Not Defined
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Chile
Population (x1000 inhab.): 16,804
Surface area (sq km): 756,102
GDP per capita (US$): 10,091.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Colombia
Population (x1000 inhab.): 45,012
Surface area (sq km): 1,141,748
GDP per capita (US$): 5,415.1
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Costa Rica
Population (x1000 inhab.): 4,519
Surface area (sq km): 51,100
GDP per capita (US$): 6,599.1
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Cuba
Population (x1000 inhab.): 11,205
Surface area (sq km): 109,886
GDP per capita (US$): 5,596.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Dominica
Population (x1000 inhab.): 67
Surface area (sq km): 751
GDP per capita (US$): 5,446.5
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Ecuador
Population (x1000 inhab.): 13,481
Surface area (sq km): 256,370
GDP per capita (US$): 3,899.6
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] El Salvador
Population (x1000 inhab.): 6,134
Surface area (sq km): 21,041
GDP per capita (US$): 3,605.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Grenada
Population (x1000 inhab.): 104
Surface area (sq km): 344
GDP per capita (US$): 6,221.4
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Guatemala
Population (x1000 inhab.): 13,686
Surface area (sq km): 108,889
GDP per capita (US$): 2,847.9
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Guyana
Population (x1000 inhab.): 763
Surface area (sq km): 214,969
GDP per capita (US$): 1,542.7
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Haiti
Population (x1000 inhab.): 9,876
Surface area (sq km): 27,750
GDP per capita (US$): 716.5
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Honduras
Population (x1000 inhab.): 7,319
Surface area (sq km): 112,492
GDP per capita (US$): 1,956.8
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Jamaica
Population (x1000 inhab.): 2,708
Surface area (sq km): 10,991
GDP per capita (US$): 5,570.8
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] México
Population (x1000 inhab.): 108,556
Surface area (sq km): 1,964,375
GDP per capita (US$): 9,964.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When: July 2, 2004
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline: Not Defined
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Nicaragua
Population (x1000 inhab.): 5,667
Surface area (sq km): 130,374
GDP per capita (US$): 1,228.2
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Panamá
Population (x1000 inhab.): 3,399
Surface area (sq km): 75,517
GDP per capita (US$): 6,792.9
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Paraguay
Population (x1000 inhab.): 6,238
Surface area (sq km): 406,752
GDP per capita (US$): 2,581.1
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Perú
Population (x1000 inhab.): 28,837
Surface area (sq km): 1,285,216
GDP per capita (US$): 4,471.2
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When: April 24, 2009
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] República Dominicana
Population (x1000 inhab.): 9,953
Surface area (sq km): 48,671
GDP per capita (US$): 4,573.9
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Saint Kitts y Nevis
Population (x1000 inhab.): 51
Surface area (sq km): 261
GDP per capita (US$): 10,873.6
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] San Vicente y las Granadinas
Population (x1000 inhab.): 109
Surface area (sq km): 389
GDP per capita (US$): 5,514.7
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Santa Lucía
Population (x1000 inhab.): 170
Surface area (sq km): 539
GDP per capita (US$): 6,016.5
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Suriname
Population (x1000 inhab.): 515
Surface area (sq km): 163,820
GDP per capita (US$): 5,569.3
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Trinidad y Tobago
Population (x1000 inhab.): 1,333
Surface area (sq km): 5,130
GDP per capita (US$): 18,152.7
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] United States of America
Population (x1000 inhab.): 311,666
Surface area (sq km): 9,629,091
GDP per capita (US$): 45,230.2
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When: 1996
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline: June 12, 2009
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Uruguay
Population (x1000 inhab.): 3,349
Surface area (sq km): 176,215
GDP per capita (US$): 9,609.7
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When: August 27, 2007
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
[pic] Venezuela
Population (x1000 inhab.): 28,121
Surface area (sq km): 912,050
GDP per capita (US$): 11,375.6
Nr. of terrestrial TV stations:
Has made a decision to transition to DTTB: Yes No
When:
DTTB standard: ATSC DVB-T ISDB-T
Video compression standard: MPEG-2 MPEG-4/AVC
Analog switch-off deadline:
Frequency band(s) used for DTTB:
Will the band(s) above be shared between analog and digital broadcasting during the transition period:
II- Detailed information about DTT Implementation in each country of the region
3.1. Argentina
1- National Policy[2]
Since May 2003, the new government of the Republic of Argentina revised the policy for the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DTT), establishing a strategy that focuses on giving the national scientific and technological sector the chance to create solutions that include the development of the local industry, responding to the need to create productive jobs and contributing to greater social equality.
The adopted approach begins by understanding that DTT is not only the technological evolution of current television but a new and formidable communication “system”, based on digital technology to broadcast signals, whose proper introduction can bring the aforementioned benefits.
Thus, after thorough and continuous tracking of the existent standards evolution and of the DTT experiment, implementation and development processes worldwide, including studies made by the Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones (CNC, ‘national communications commission´) and the Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Telecomunicaciones de la Universidad Nacional de San Martín (CITT/UNSAM, 'telecommunication research and transfer centre of the national university of San Martín’), on 25 August 2009, the Communications Secretariat (CS), through Resolution 171 SC/2009, recommended the Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services the standard called ISDB-T, as a basis for the DTT system of the Argentine Republic.
Then the government, on 31 August 2009, through Executive Order 1148/2009, created the SISTEMA ARGENTINO DE TELEVISION DIGITAL TERRESTRE (SATVD-T ‘Argentine System of Digital Television’) and defined its objectives:
a) To foster social inclusion, the country’s cultural diversity and its language through the access to digital technology, as well as the democratization of information.
b) To facilitate the creation of a distance education universal network.
c) To stimulate research and development, as well as to foster the expansion of information and communication-related technologies and industries of Argentina.
d) To plan the transition from analogue to digital television so as to guarantee progressive and free of charge participation of all viewers.
e) To optimize spectrum use.
f) To contribute to technological convergence.
g) To improve audio, video and services quality.
h) To encourage the local industry in the production of digital instruments and services.
i) To foster the creation of job positions and the provision of training to the workers in the technological industry.
Also, through the aforementioned Executive Order, the government:
a) Created the ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE ARGENTINE SYSTEM OF DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION, within the scope of the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services, whose function is to give advice regarding the attainment of the goals set for the SATVD-T.
b) Established that this ADVISORY COUNCIL is to be formed by 1 (one) representative of the following national organizations: Head Office of Ministers’ Cabinet; Home Office; Ministry of Foreign Relations, International Trade and Worship; Ministry of Economy and Public Finance; Ministry of Production; Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security; Ministry of Social Development; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Science, Technology & Productive Innovation.
c) Planned that the ADVISORY COUNCIL within its scope may establish the creation of a CONSULTATIVE FORUM, comprised by representatives of the industrial sector, the workers, the national scientific and technological community, the broadcasting media, users and consumers’ associations, and any other social sector invited to be part of it.
d) Established a period of TEN (10) years to carry out the transition process from analogue television to SATVD-T.
On 24 September 2009, the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment & Services, through Resolution 1785 MPFIPyS/2009, approved the AGREEMENT FOR THE FORMATION OF THE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF SATVD-T, including the SATVD-T Advisory Council Regulations and the Consultative Forum, and the Guidelines of the Management Program for the Implementation of SATVD-T.
This Management Program stipulated that the ADVISORY COUNCIL had a period of 60 (sixty) days to elaborate their Strategic and Operational Planning, so as to meet the goals set for SATVD-T.
Both the Strategic and the Operational Planning, and the annual plans based on it include aspects related to broadcasting, reception, content promotion, national production and generation of employment, scientific development and training in human resources, regulatory frame, etc., as detailed below.
1.1- Broadcasting
The infrastructure of the digital terrestrial stations (DTSs) that comprise the broadcasting system was designed so as to bring access to a public and free DTT service with national, regional and local contents, called “Open Digital Television” (ODT).
1.2- Reception
On 20 April 2010, the ADVISORY COUNCIL of SATVD-T approved the “OPERATIONAL PLAN TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO RECEPTION EQUIPMENT FOR OPEN DIGITAL TELEVISION”, popularly known as “MY DIGITAL TV”, whose main goal is to create integration mechanisms destined to those social groups presenting risks of exclusion from the technological transition process that goes from analogue to digital television.
Thus, during the “II MEETING OF THE ISDB-T STANDARD INTERNATIONAL FORUM”, celebrated in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, on 3, 4 and 5 May 2010, the Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment & Services announced that they would start distributing more than 1 (one) million Set Top Boxes (STB) among the most vulnerable sectors.
1.3- Training in human resources
An Education and Training Plan is being designed together with the companies associations and the universities, in order to promote the following activities:
- The academic development of professionals in the fields of telecommunications, electronics, production of audiovisual contents, etc.
- The creation of multidisciplinary research and development centres specialized in DTT strategic areas.
- The inclusion of trained technicians and operators in different Technologies connected to DTT.
Moreover, the creation of a technical team creation, valorization and transfer of knowledge shall also be fostered. This team will responsible for dictating talks, seminars, subjects and courses in different academic areas, carrying out consulting and analysis-related work, and also for researching and then solving the problems that emerged during the development of the SATVD-T.
1.4- National production and job creation
During the first stage, the government plans to group the national companies classified as potential technology and audiovisual contents providers in commissions comprised by the product families that SATVD-T demands. The purpose of this is to define the technical aspects, train the staff, and carry out research and development (R&D) activities, detecting the productive processes that still need to be nationalized at each stage of the different sectors’ production chains.
Then, during a second stage, the government plans the creation of productive centres integrated by companies capable of producing in the country those products currently being imported. They will have their own training and research centre, and they will receive tax benefits so as to push the development of the strategic areas in which they will be installed.
Thus, within the frame of the current reindustrialization process, they will foster investment and the creation of an industrial complex in charge of manufacturing equipment and developing contents related to this new technology, thus enabling the participation in the global offer that will arise as a consequence of DTT in the continent.
1.5- Fostering of contents
The government will foster program planning: cultural programs containing the nation’s plural expression of diversity; educational programs contributing to fairness in knowledge access for all inhabitants, regardless of their place of residence or social status; general interest programs with social contents destined to all the people but focusing on historically vulnerable social groups.
In this regard, on 30 June 2010, the ADVISORY COUNCIL of SATVD-T presented the Banco Audiovisual de Contenidos Universales Argentino (BACUA, ‘Argentine universal audiovisual contents bank’), where all the contents developed in all the country’s regions will be accumulated, and the Polos Audiovisuales, (Audiovisual Nodes) program, whose aim is to install and strengthen the capacities for the production of DTT contents, fostering equal opportunities and the decrease of asymmetry between provinces and regions.
All the audiovisual world organizations will have the chance to join the BACUA by transferring freely their own material and using material produced by third parties.
The “BACUA”, which will provide material to public and private stations, already has 77 short films, 24 documentary telefilms, and 11 journalistic documentaries in its archives.
Regarding the “Audiovisual Nodes”, it is important to point out that they are formed by dividing the country into 9 (nine) regions in which the national universities will gather the audiovisual sector actors of each community to form “Nodes”.
The “Nodes” will be composed by the cooperative associations and social organizations related to the audiovisual sector, small and medium-sized audiovisual industries, independent producers, community and public TV stations, and the local public organizations.
Within this context, on 30 July 2010, the Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA, ‘National Institute of Film & Audiovisual Arts’), through Resolutions 1543/2010, 1544/2010, 1545/2010 and 1546/2010, called for bids to produce 5 (five) fiction series, 9 (nine) fiction series, 4 (four) documentary series and 6 (six) documentary series, respectively.
On the other hand, the team for the promotion of contents of the ADVISORY COUNCIL of SATVD-T and the National University of La Matanza drew up a “GUIDE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF CONTENTS IN DIGITAL TELEVISION”, to help audiovisual content producers, especially the new ones, know the usual requirements for the submission of an audiovisual project; duly submit consistent and well-defined projects; and understand which are the minimum requirements for high definition productions, among other aspects.
1.6- Development of software for DTT
On 07/19/2010, the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (national agency for scientific and technical promotion), through the Fondo Fiduciario de Promoción de la Industria del Software (FONSOFT, ‘fiduciary fund for the promotion of the software industry’) called for the submission of software products and processes development oriented to the new digital television market. The topics of the eligible projects include, but are not limited to the following:
- Development of interactive applications: applications in t-learning, t-government, t-business, etc.; applications and infrastructure to exploit the return channel.
- Software infrastructure for DTT: tools for applications automatic or semiautomatic testing; tools for the construction of interactive applications (composers); “Ginga J” development; TV software on mobile devices; techniques for the introduction of visual effects on digital television; tools to generate and optimize the data carrousel; tools to create and broadcast live events in the transport stream; transport stream analysis tools (content analysis, good formation, problem diagnosis); software for the management of the transmitting stations network including remote control and supervision of transmitters, multiplexors, IRD’s and sensors for telemetry; development of APIs for the integration of different equipment to the management software; “playout” development (low-cost).
2- Current situation of DTT implementation
In the Strategic and Operational Planning of SATVD-T approved by the end of 2009, the broadcasting plan indicated the creation and implementation of “Public SATVD-T” in order to guarantee total coverage of the Argentine territory through the DTSs supplemented with the satellite system.
The Technical coordination of the ADVISORY COUNCIL, based on the work of CNC and CITT/UNSAM’s technical teams, presented the general design principles of a 46 (forty-six )-DTSs network to be installed during the first implementation stage of the “Public SATVD-T”.
On March 11 & 12 2010, a SATVD-T image quality demonstration was made at the microcinema of television station LS82 TV Channel 7 of BUENOS AIRES – “La Televisión Pública” (public television).
On 15 March, the government, through Executive Order 364/2010, declared the NATIONAL PLATFORM OF DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION a matter of public interest; the platform is to be developed and implemented by “EMPRESA ARGENTINA DE SOLUCIONES SATELITALES SOCIEDAD ANONIMA - AR-SAT”, comprised by the digitalized signals’ transmission and reception systems, whose general guidelines are established in the ANNEX attached to this measure.
On Wednesday 21 April 2010, a 10-kilovat output power transmitter was put into operation at the LS82 TV Channel 7 of BUENOS AIRES – “La Televisión Pública” broadcasting plant to offer digital air TV in channel 23 (524 – 530 MHz) free of charge under the SATVD-T standard.
In June, LS82 TV Channel 7 of BUENOS AIRES – “La Televisión Pública” broadcasted the FIFA World Cup “South Africa 2010” in high definition.
Subsequently, on 19 July 2010, the government through Executive Order 1010/2010 granted “RADIO Y TELEVISION ARGENTINA SOCIEDAD DEL ESTADO” (Argentine radio and television- a state-owned company), in their capacity of continuators of the SISTEMA NACIONAL DE MEDIOS PUBLICOS SOCIEDAD DEL ESTADO (national system of public media – a state-owned company) , a permit for the experimental installation and operation nationwide of a digital signal distribution system called SISTEMA EXPERIMENTAL DE TELEVISION ABIERTA DIGITAL (digital open television experimentation system) in order to make trial transmissions through the broadcast of own or third parties’ signals.
On 18 October 2010, the rapid advance in the implementation of public SATVD-T was evident when the President and the Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment & Services put into operation 5 (five) DTSs, from a total of 46 that will be installed nationwide by mid next year, namely Cañuelas, La Plata, Baradero and Campana, in the province of Buenos Aires, and Resistencia, in the province of Chaco.
On that same week, two chains of mass consumption electronic devices stores started to offer set-top boxes at prices that range from 38 to 127 USD.
3- Spectrum use
Pursuant to the SATVD-T Strategic and Operative Planning, the Comité Federal de Radiodifusión (COMFER, ‘Broadcasting Federal Committee’), later replaced by the Autoridad Federal de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual (AFSCA, ‘audiovisual communication services federal authority’), based on the approval of Act 26522, resolved on 27 November 2009, through Resolution 813 COMFER/2009, to cancel the allocation of channels in the band segment of 518 to 542 MHz (channels 22 to 25), for subscription television systems using radio link, and to authorize “Sistema Nacional de Medios Públicos Sociedad del Estado” its use for the implementation of “Public SATVD-T”.
Currently, CNC is carrying out the technical analysis tending to determine the technical forecast of a channel in the band segment of 512 to 638 MHz (channels 21 to 41) for each of the provinces of the national territory.
4- New services offered by DTT
Since the beginning of November 2010, 7 (seven) digital signals can be received free of charge through the channels allocated to “Public SATVD-T”; these signals are “TV Pública”, “Encuentro”, “Gol TV”, “C5N – HD”, “CN23”, “Telesur” and “Paka-Paka”.
The digital signals of “TV Pública” and “Encuentro” are also broadcasted in “ONE-SEG”.
Regarding the interactive services, the “Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada (LIFIA, ‘research and advanced IT education laboratory)” of the Information Technology School of the National University of La Plata is developing “Ginga.ar”, an implementation of “Ginga-NCL” derived from the implementation of reference “Ginga-NCL”, originated in the “Telemidia Lab” of the Pontifical Catholic University of Río de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), besides interactive applications with “NCL” and “Lua”, namely:
- “Cyclope Sokoban”: “Sokoban” version for “Ginga”, developed in “NCL” and “Lua”; guessing game in which you need to put the boxes in the correct location by using the arrows in the remote control; it includes various levels of complexity.
- “Partido”(match): development of an application for football matches in “Ginga-NCL”; it allows TV viewers to visualize the full information about the teams’ line ups, the matches played on that date and the championship table by using the 4 (four) interactive “Ginga” buttons.
- “Cocineros” (chefs): development of an application to add interactivity to a TV show called “Cocineros Argentinos” (Argentine chefs) () broadcasted by “TV Pública”, featuring a rotation of various chefs with different specialties; the application shows additional information on the chefs participating in the show that day, and each one’s specialties by using the remote control; also, at the time of preparing the recipes, the application shows the ingredients and the instructions; while the application is active, the main television broadcast is reduced to an upper picture, using the rest of the screen to display additional information.
5- Annexes
➢ AN01_ARG_Resolucion_171_SC_2009.pdf
Communications Secretariat
Resolution 171/2009
Resolution Nº 2357/98 establishing technical standard ATSC for digital terrestrial television systems for the Argentine Republic is hereby rendered void and null.
The Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment & Services is recommended the standard called ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial), as the basis for the Digital Television System of the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.
➢ AN02_ARG_Decreto_1148_2009.pdf
Executive Order 1148/2009
The Argentine System of Digital Terrestrial Television is hereby created.
The ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE ARGENTINE SYSTEM OF DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION, within the scope of the MINISTRY OF FEDERAL PLANNING, PUBLIC INVESTMENT AND SERVICES is hereby created.
➢ AN03_ARG_Resolucion_1785_09 MPFIPyS.pdf
Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services
Resolution 1785/2009
The Agreement for the formation of the Advisory Council of the Argentine System of Digital Terrestrial Television is hereby approved.
➢ AN04_ARG_Anexo_Resolucion_1785_09 MPFIPyS.pdf
Annex to Resolution 1785/2009
➢ AN05_ARG_Planificacion_Estrategica_SATVD-T_2009-2019.pdf
Strategic planning for the implementation of SATVD-T (Effect 2009 – 2019).
➢ AN06_ARG_Resolucion_813_CFR_2009.pdf
Federal Broadcasting Committee
Resolution 813/2009
Allocations of channels corresponding to coded television services in the UHF band are hereby cancelled throughout the whole Argentine Republic.
➢ AN07_ARG_Decreto_364_2010.pdf
Executive Order 364/2010
The National Platform of Digital Terrestrial Television is hereby declared of public interest.
➢ AN08_ARG_Anexos_Decreto_364_2010.pdf
Annexes to Executive Order 364/2010
➢ AN09_ARG_Reglam_Gral_Acceso_Eq_Recep_TV_Digital.pdf
General Regulations of the Operational Plan of Access to Equipment for the Reception of Open Digital Television “MY DIGITAL TV”.
➢ AN10_ARG_Prog_Polos_Audiovisuales_SATVD-T.pdf
“Audiovisual Nodes” Program.
➢ AN11_ARG_Decreto_1010_2010.pdf
Executive Order 1010/2010
Radio y Televisión Argentina Sociedad del Estado (Argentine radio and television – a state-owned company) is hereby granted a permit for the installation, and operation of the Sistema Experimental de Televisión Abierta Digital (digital open television experimentation system).
➢ AN12_ARG_Bases_ANR_Fonsoft_TV_Digital_2010.pdf
The Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, through the Fondo Fiduciario de Promoción de la Industria del Software (FONSOFT, ‘fiduciary fund for the promotion of the software industry’) calls for the submission of projects for the development of software products and processes oriented to the new digital television market.
➢ AN13_ARG_Guia_Presentacion_Contenidos_Digitales.pdf
Guide for the submission of contents in digital television.
➢ AN14_ARG_Resoluciones_1543_a_1546_INCAA_2010.doc
Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (National Institute of Film & Audiovisual Arts)
Resolution Nº 1543/2010
Call for bids for the production of FIVE (5) Fiction Series for Digital Television.
Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales
Resolution Nº 1544/2010
Call for bids for the production of NINE (9) Fiction Series for Digital Television.
Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales
Resolution Nº 1545/2010
Call for bids for the production of FOUR (4) Documentary Series for Digital Television.
Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales
Resolution Nº 1546/2010
Call for bids for the production of SIX (6) Documentary Series for Digital Television.
3.2 Brazil[3]
3.2.1 National Policies
The Brazilian Digital Television System Project (SBTVD) was established with the purpose of analyzing exploration and deployment alternatives that can be fruitful for the advent of Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) in Brazil. The government decided that the evolution of analog television into the digital system should be developed by aiming at real benefits for the society. Among these benefits, it is possible to highlight the promotion of social inclusion, the creation of a widespread distance teaching network, and a gradual transition, compatible with users' purchasing power. Following that, it was established a formal structure of decision and execution concerning the necessary actions for obtaining the Reference Model of the DTT system.
The first phase in the deployment of the DTT System in Brazil was accomplished in the first half of the year 2005[4], reaching the following objectives:
• define a reference model;
• propose the digital television standard to be adopted;
• propose the digital television service development model;
• propose timeframe and model for the transition from analog to digital system.
The second phase continued the development of technologies and services considered significant to be selected within the Reference Model. It depended mostly on the definitions in the standard and on the business model chosen in the first phase. In this phase, among other initiatives, the regulation framework will have to be adapted.
Finally, the third phase encompassed the deployment of technologies and services developed. Brazilian government has promoted the adoption of a DTT System that respects the social particularities and conditions, providing the opportunity to develop regional solutions, which are mostly suitable, overcoming the urgency of the decision.
After thorough testing and careful studies, the Brazilian Government adopted on June 2006[5], the ISDB-T standard for digital television, incorporating technological innovations that are deemed relevant by the Brazilian Government and whose technical specifications should facilitate the following:
I – high-definition digital transmission (HDTV) and standard-definition digital transmission (SDTV);
II – simultaneous digital transmission for fixed, mobile, and portable reception; and
III – interactivity.
3.2.2. Spectrum Usage
The radio spectrum is an important and highly valuable resource that must be adequately managed to meet the established policies. To achieve this objective, regarding the TV broadcasting service, the National Telecommunication Agency (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações—ANATEL) started drawing up a channel assignment plan in Brazil before the adoption of the digital standard, to guarantee simultaneous compliance with the technical requirements of the three digital television systems that were under analysis. This work took into consideration the following premises:
- The digital television channels would use the bands of VHF-H (7 to 13) and, preferably, the UHF band (14 to 59), keeping the service area equivalent to that of the current analog service.
- During the analog to digital transition phase, the programming of the stations shall be transmitted simultaneously by the analog and digital channels. After that phase, analog transmissions would be interrupted remaining only digital transmissions. The analog switch off is programmed to take place in June 2016, as illustrated in Figure 1 below;
- For each analog channel considered, a digital channel shall be assigned during the analog-to-digital transition period, set for 10 years, observing the current coverage of the analog signal.;
- For the adequate delivery of digital television service in Brazil without the interruption of analog signal transmission, in order to facilitate the transition to digital technology, a 6 MHz channel shall be allocated;
- The technical criteria adopted must meet the protection and interference requirements of the three digital television systems, always bearing in mind the worst case, regarding this aspect.
[pic]
Figure 1 – Digital Switchover in Brazil
Guided by these principles, ANATEL, which is responsible for drawing up and maintaining the Basic Channel Assignment Plans, published the Basic Digital Television Channel Assignment Plan (Plano Básico de Distribuição de Canais de Televisão Digital—PBTVD). With 1,893 channels included, the above-mentioned Basic Plan was comprised of a universe of 296 Brazilian localities, including those which at that time had at least one operating broadcasting television generator station and, in addition, those which, although having only television translator stations, had a population of over 100,000 inhabitants.
Furthermore, to meet the expected demand for digital TV channel assignment, mainly in the regions with high occupancy of radioelectric spectrum, ANATEL has been making efforts to change the assignment of channels 60 to 69, currently used by the television signal relay service, for their use, primarily, by TV broadcasting and translator stations. The television signal relay stations operating on these channels shall be motivated to change to other frequency bands.
The adoption of the ISDB-T standard made possible to adjust the PBTVD to the modulation characteristics inherent to the system. In 2006, ANATEL started up this adjustment to that new reality basically excluding the 91 channels envisaged for a possible choice of a system that would not permit the use of Single Frequency Network (SFN), and adjusting the power of the digital channels to match the coverage area of analog channels, once the drafting of the PBTVD had considered the worst protection and interference case, which led to higher power levels than needed and the alteration of the related installation points to meet co-location requirements.
This task is being carried out by region, starting with the regions in Brazil that account for the highest economic output and occupy most of the radioelectric spectrum, without neglecting however the regions of higher demographic density, which shall facilitate the implementation of digital television in Brazil.
In late 2009, the PBTVD already covered all the states in Brazil, totalizing 472 municipalities and 2688 channels, including all 27 state capitals, and all locations of Parana and Sao Paulo states. Since then, studies were undertaken to include digital channels in the South, Southeast and Midwest regions, whose related changes should be implemented on the PBTVD until early 2011. The North and Northeast regions will be studied in the first half of 2011.
3.2.3. Current Situation on DTT Implementation
On December 2nd, 2007, the first official implementations of the Brazilian DTT system began commercial operations in the city of São Paulo and, by mid-2008, there were already 10 commercial broadcasters operating in this city. Although tests were already being conducted since May 2007, the government chose the December date as the official date of the system launch.
The actual deployment of DTT transmissions in Brazil was moving ahead of the schedule. Stimulated by the increasing interest in the new technology, many broadcasters have been investing earlier than required by law and have been starting digital transmissions sooner than expected. The accelerated implementation was also due to the tax-reduction incentives offered by the government, and to the new applications made possible by the DTT system, such as portable reception.
In the first three years of the official commercial launch, DTT transmissions in Brazil are a reality in over 39 metropolitan areas. By the third quarter of this year, DTT signals already covered over 72 million people. The robustness of DTT signals, as well as the superior video and audio quality provided by the technology, represents a big step forward in the technical quality on content access of lower income population.
In the third quarter of 2010, there were already over 50 different DTT receivers available in the market, with functionalities and designs aimed to different economic segments and user preferences, and which since mid 2010 also includes interactivity. Among those models, there could be found portable reception devices (1-Seg), including portable TVs, computer USB tuners and cell phones. For fixed reception, consumers could choose between standard definition and high definition devices, although all broadcasters have been transmitting in high definition (1080i). All interactivity products are branded with the DTVi logo.
Since the beginning of transmissions, market prices for DTT receivers have been falling gradually, as the market moves from the early adopters to the ordinary consumers. That expected movement has been regarded by broadcasters and industry as proof of the successful introduction of DTT. This trend has intensified on the first semester of 2010 due to the proximity of the soccer world cup.
The receiver industry had already provided many solutions for the high-end DTT market, such as full-HD displays with integrated digital tuners. Brazilian government provides tax incentives for the production of television set only if LCDs and Plasma with display sizes for at least 42 inches have built in receivers. This exemption will be extended to all display sizes by January 2011.
Not only the availability of products contributed to the system successful deployment but also the existence of the Forum of Brazil’s Terrestrial Digital TV Broadcasting System, formally instated in December 2006. The Forum is a nonprofit entity, whose main objectives are to support and foster the development and implementation of the best practices for the success of digital television broadcasting in Brazil. Its membership is composed mainly of participants from the broadcasting, reception-and-transmission-equipment-manufacturing, and software industries.
The Forum’s mission is to help and encourage the installation or improvement of the digital sound and image transmission and receiving system in Brazil, promoting standards and quality that meet the demands of the users.
The purpose of this Forum is to propose voluntary or mandatory technical norms, standards, and regulations for Brazil’s terrestrial digital television broadcasting system, and, in addition, to foster and promote representation, relations, and integration with other national and international institutions.
3.2.4. New Services Offered by DTT
The Brazilian digital transmission system will provide new capabilities to serve viewers, such as high definition and standard resolution pictures, data delivery, interactive communication, portable and mobile services, with the required technical flexibility to better serve the viewers.
The possibility of signal transmission through a single channel for fixed (HDTV), mobile (SDTV) and portable reception (1-Seg), only possible on the ISDB-T system, encourages the relationship between viewers and the content provided. Furthermore, the system enables to increase the signal penetration to meet the needs of a dynamic population, maintaining the broadcasting service features of providing information, education and entertainment, which distinguishes it from others services.
Brazilian DTV broadcasting system enables a limitless variety of new information services, including interactive services. A great deal of interactivity in such applications can be provided simply by downloading substantial information from which viewers can choose. Interactivity can be increased further through the use of a return channel through which viewers can request specific content from the broadcaster. Brazilian system comprises multiple technologies to implement the return channel, including, but not limited to, fixed and mobile networks, broadband connections or even a terrestrial return channel if additional spectrum is available.
New services under deployment in the Brazilian market, including interactive services, represents an important opportunity to promote social inclusion, i.e., to provide education, health care, and other important social services to viewers of all socio-economic segments, including citizens who may never own a personal computer.
There are still lots of opportunities of the digital transition and digital system to be further explored:
• Signal Coverage in All Terrain Types: provision of better services in their coverage areas, improving the quality of their service to the local population.
• Signal Robustness and Performance: signal robustness lowers acquisition and operation costs for all broadcasters, allowing resources to be allocated to content production and providing.
• Resistance to Signal Interference: ISDB-T offers time interleaving techniques, witch provide powerful channel coding for mobile reception in which variations in field are inevitable.
• Audio and Video Quality in HDTV Services: use of MPEG-4 audio and video coding for better quality. Viewers may benefit from enhanced image, sharper sound and exciting new applications.
• Balance Between Costs and Technical Performance: MPEG-4, which is optional in the system, is currently the most powerful and state-of-the-art audio and video coding standard. Its design provides valuable future proof balance between coding efficiency, implementation complexity and cost, based on the current state of VLSI design technology
• Deliver of Programs and Applications to Portable Devices: Direct service from broadcasters to portable and hand-held devices of audio, video and applications will create new business models and increase audiences, reaching viewers on the move everywhere.
• One Channel for all Services: All types of services, either HDTV, SDTV or to portable devices (1-Seg) are transmitted using only one channel, rendering a better and more efficient use of the spectrum.
• Flexibility between Signal Coverage and Bandwidth: The system is configurable in such a way that broadcasters may trade bit rate capacity against signal coverage to all services individually, either for stationary, mobile or portable reception.
• Signal Coverage and Quality of Service (QoS): The system ensures a more efficient and cost-effective use of the spectrum when compared to analogue transmissions. All versions of the specification guarantee the use of advances such as SFN (Single Frequency Network), on-channel repeaters and several other techniques for optimizing coverage and filling shadow areas.
• Flexible Business Models: Flexibility needed to offer the adequate blend of content that is most appealing to local audiences. HDTV, multiple SDTV services, mobile and portable services, plus a limitless variety of data services can be all harmonized under the same technical and regulatory umbrella.
• Mobile and Portable Services: The digital television system platform was developed to maximize its unique capacity for offering mobile and portable services, which has been actively developed for portable and mobile applications.
• New Services: It renders an alternative to in-house wireless solutions as a means of overcoming the problem of second and third television sets in the home and providing new broadcast entertainment and information services to people on the move.
• Social Inclusion and New audiences: ISDB-T is capable of providing increased access to information services to viewers of all socio-economic segments at once. Reaching the poorer segments of society is particularly relevant since in many countries a vast majority of the population relies on free-to-air television as the only means of access to information and entertainment.
The Digital Television implementation is no longer a technical challenge in Brazil but rather an opportunity to provide access to digital technology to all socio-economic segments of society. Flexible business models, mobile and portable reception and attractive applications to viewers are key to any digital television platform future viability.
(Detailed technical information can be found at )
3.2.5 Annex 1
Brazilian Digital Terrestrial Television Standards
|Subject |ABNT NBR[6] |Parts |Português |English |Español |
|Transmission |15601 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 07/04/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
|Coding |15602 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 07/04/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
| | |Part 2 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 07/04/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 | Updated on 08/01/2010 |
| | |Part 3 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 07/04/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
|Multiplexing |15603 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
| | |Part 2 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 21/09/2009 |Updated on 21/09/2009 |Updated on 21/09/2009 |
| | |Part 3 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 02/09/2009 |Updated on 02/09/2009 |Updated on 02/09/2009 |
|Receivers |15604 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 07/04/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
|Security |15605 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 16/07/2009 |Updated on 16/07/2009 |Updated on 16/07/2009 |
|Middleware |15606 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 14/07/2010 | Updated on 14/07/2010 |Updated on 14/07/2010 |
| | |Part 2 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 17/04/2009 |Updated on 17/04/2009 |Updated on 19/11/2009 |
| | |Part 3 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 01/12/2007 |
| | |Part 4 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 13/04/2010 |Updated on 16/06/2010 |Updated on 25/06/2010 |
| | |Part 5 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 14/04/2009 |Updated on 14/04/2009 |Updated on 18/06/2009 |
| | |Part 6 |Download |Soon |Soon |
| | | |Updated on 19/07/2010 | | |
|Interactivity Channel |15607 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 05/04/2008 |Updated on 05/04/2008 |Updated on 05/04/2008 |
|Operation Guide |15608 |Part 1 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 22/08/2008 |Updated on 22/09/2008 |
| | |Part 2 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 02/06/2010 |Updated on 21/06/2010 |Updated on 21/06/2010 |
| | |Part 3 |Download |Download |Download |
| | | |Updated on 24/07/2009 |Updated on 24/07/2009 |Updated on 24/07/2009 |
3.3. Canada
3.3.1. National Experience and Approach no DTT Planning and Implementation
Introduction
Television broadcasting is gradually converting to digital. Although most of what is currently transmitted on DTV channels is programming converted from analogue television; clear signs are indicating that the transition is well underway in Canada.
With more programming available in high definition (HD), a large number of Canadians are buying HDTV capable receivers and are increasingly spending on cable and satellite DTV television subscription services.
The producers are also spending large sums of money to buy digital television hardware to be able to produce HD programming knowing full well that any analog material will have a very short shelf life.
Status of DTV in Canada
Initially, the adoption of DTV had been fairly slow in Canada, however the pace has been accelerating this year and implementation will become more widespread as more programming material in HDTV becomes available, and prices for consumer receivers and professional equipment decrease.
It is estimated that there are more than one million HDTV capable sets in Canada. The number of Canadian households subscribing to digital television (DTV) services has passed the 4-million mark in the second quarter of 2004, making the production of HDTV programming attractive and therefore accelerating the roll-out of HDTV services.
According to Decima Research, among households that subscribe to a TV service, about four in ten now receive a DTV service such as digital cable or satellite TV. This survey also found that 63 per cent of Canadians know about HDTV and twenty-one per cent of those who knew about HDTV had already purchased an HDTV-ready television.
In January 2003, CHUM Broadcasting started the first commercial DTV emission in Canada. Today, DTV stations are broadcasting over the air in the major centers of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Currently, Canadian satellite services and many cable services provide HD packages with as many as 20 HD channels. These include specialty television program services such as Discovery Channel, Television Sport Network and The Movie Network.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the national public broadcaster, started to operate its first digital transmitters in early March bringing High Definition television signals to the airwaves in Toronto and Montreal. At the same time, CBC has started to provide an HDTV feed for cable and satellite providers. The CBC has also applied to broadcast regulators for licenses for digital stations in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Québec City. CBC expects that stations in these markets would be operating within 24 months.
Canadian broadcasters are also grappling with the issues that relate to the aspect ratio of HDTV. In addition to the increased resolution, a major cause for concern is the transition of content from the traditional television screen format of 4 × 3 to the wide cinema like screen format of 16 × 9. Although content providers and broadcasters are increasingly producing original content in widescreen format, they need to reformat the content for the established base of 4 × 3 analog television sets.
New ATSC Technological Developments for DTV Broadcasting
As the transition to digital television is accelerating television sets manufacturers are actively pursuing improvements in the performance of ATSC receivers. This effort has resulted in significant improvements to ATSC technology. Improvements have been made to the hardware and to the knowledge of how to best use the ATSC technologies. Last year has seen ATSC develop additional standards and recommended practices to promote the introduction of HDTV services.
The cost of professional and consumers hardware has significantly decreased. While consumer receiver prices have decreased, their performance has improved considerably. Noteworthy are the better performance of 5th generation receivers in handling multipath: the equalizer windows is significantly larger, and as a result the ability to handle large echoes and long pre-echoes has improved.
Better receiver performances have made distributed transmission (multiple synchronized transmitters, on-channel gap fillers, coverage extenders…) a practical option. Field testing of these features is currently underway in Ottawa.
A number of countries including Canada, Korea and the USA have collaborated to develop the technical know-how necessary to implement distributed networks. Experimental networks have been implemented and evaluated, these field tests have shown that distributed transmission provides a more uniform signal level over the target area and can generate less interference than the conventional scheme of using high power emissions from a single tower.
In July 2004, the ATSC adopted A/110 “Synchronization Standard for Distributed Transmission” which defines a standard for synchronization of multiple transmitters emitting trellis-coded 8-VSB signals in accordance with ATSC A/53 Annex D (RF/Transmission Systems Characteristics). It specifies mechanisms to transmit synchronization signals to several transmitters using a dedicated Packet Identifier (PID) value, including the formatting of packets associated with that PID and without altering the signal format emitted from the transmitters. It also provides for adjustment of transmitter timing and other characteristics through additional information carried in the specified packet structure. Techniques are also provided for cascading transmitters in networks of synchronous translators.
Amendment No. 1 to the ATSC Standard A/53C ”ATSC Digital Television Standard”, was adopted last July. This amendment defines optional sub-modes of operation that trade-off data rate for performance. These modes facilitate receiver operation in difficult propagation conditions while they maintain the quality of the main service.
ATSC also adopted several standards that facilitate the introduction of new broadcast services, (conditional access, Metadata, interactivity and download of software), and introduced voluntary guidelines to facilitate the introduction of DTV that cover receiver performance and design of multiple synchronized transmitter networks.
The technical know-how and the greater availability of hardware will undoubtedly help ensure that the consumer and the Canadian broadcasting industries profit from the transition to DTV
Market Driven Transition
Canada has chosen to adopt a market driven approach to the DTV transition with no firm date for DTV stations to be on the air, nor a date to terminate analog emissions. However, the DTV transition policies were purposely designed to encourage the transition of the Canadian broadcasting system from analog to digital and high definition technology. For example, the ‘must carry’ rules mean that cable and satellite providers serving a given city will begin to carry the new HD services when the local stations go on air, in digital.
With over a million HDTV capable television sets in Canada, the wide availability of HD subscription services and DTV stations broadcasting in major cities, the market driven approach is producing tangible results.
It is important to know that HDTV is a subset of digital television. All HDTV is digital television. But not all digital television is HDTV. In particular, SDTV stands for standard-definition TV, and EDTV, for enhanced-definition TV. Those are affordable alternatives to HDTV. They, too, provide crisper pictures and superior sound compared with analog.
The main cost of HDTV is currently associated with the cost of the display screen specially the large screens of home theatre. The cost of the electronics that treats the RF signal has decreased enough to be only slightly higher than the price of analog sets. The following two examples illustrate how affordable DTV can be.
RCA has introduced very affordable Standard Definition Television (SDTV) models in the 27-inch screen size at suggested retail prices below $ 300 US. Thomson also is planning to introduce a Digital-to-Analog RCA converter box carrying a suggested retail price of under $125 US, half the cost of similar converters.
The CRTC Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report released in December 2004, showed that the Canadian television industry enjoys strong revenue growth. Industry revenues continue to greatly exceed the rate of inflation. The huge revenue streams combined with the huge amount of dollars flowing into Canadian programming funds will help to support the conversion to DTV and to increase original Canadian high definition content.
Spectrum Planning for DTV
With no firm date for the shutdown of analog service, Canadian consumers can expect to continue to receive analog service until digital penetration is significant. For an undetermined period of time, both analog and digital television broadcast services will co-exist in the VHF and UHF bands. Eventually, the DTV services will replace existing analog terrestrial television services.
A Transition Allotment Plan, prepared by Industry Canada, has assigned a new digital channel, to each existing analog station; this new channel provides a comparable coverage to the one existing for the analog station. After the transition, when all analog emissions are terminated, there will be an opportunity for broadcasters to improve their transmitting parameters.
Canadian Broadcasters believe that, it is vital to provide service to indoor and portable television receivers in urban areas. Doing so requires a better signal distribution. Field tests have shown that distributed transmitter networks provide a more uniform signal level over the target area and at the same time create less interference. Therefore broadcasters are interested in implementing distributed transmitter networks. Although the Transition Plan has been based on the assumption of high ERP transmitted from a single tower, Industry Canada has agreed to consider individual application for distributed transmitter network. A broadcaster wishing to implement such a network will have to demonstrate that the resulting interference does not exceed the level of interference that corresponds to the parameters used in the plan.
Industry Canada has revised the initial Transition Plan published in 1998 to assign the channel pair 63/68 for public safety services.
Industry Canada is currently developing a plan for Post-Transition DTV. The plan will reduce the use of low VHF channels due to increasingly higher level of man-made noise in that band and restrict the use of higher UHF channels 52-59. The channels 60-69 will no longer be used for television as this portion of the band will be reassigned to other services such as public safety and commercial mobile.
Conclusion
Several trends and technical developments are contributing to accelerate DTV implementation in Canada, the decreasing cost of receivers, widespread use of DVD players that have raise consumer expectations, competitive pressure from the US based television networks which are constantly increasing HD content, and favorable carriage rules applicable to broadcast distribution undertakings (Cable and Satellite). All these factors are propelling Canadian television viewers into the digital era.
The choice of the ATSC standard has helped in bringing equipment cost down and Canadian broadcasting has benefited from the experience of American broadcasters.
3.4. Colombia
3.4.1. National Goals
Introduction
Television is a public service with great influence on society, as it educates, entertains, and informs. We are now witnessing a global transformation of this medium where digital television is revolutionizing the production area, as it makes possible to transmit video signals of cinematic quality and audio signals of compact disc quality. It can also transmit a wide array of additional information to end users.
To the extent that it facilitates access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), digital television is also a tool for bridging the digital divide, as it makes it possible to access the world’s large information markets, interact with television, and use television devices to connect with different service providers.
Digitization of television enhances the quality of video and sound signals; makes better use of the spectrum, increasing the number of channels that can be broadcast; optimizes operators’ broadcasting and reception costs; provides access to a range of new services (associated with independent television transmissions, such as interactive services); and makes available portable and mobile television reception.
Implementation of DTT in COLOMBIA
An objective of the National Television Commission (CNTV), as Colombia’s lead public television entity, is to spearhead DTT implementation in Colombia, in coordination with the sector’s other players. This entity has responsibility for the stewardship of and reserving of frequency, on behalf of the state, for public television, formulating and implementing state plans and programs for television, and interceding in, managing, and controlling the use of the electromagnetic spectrum used to provide this service, with the aim of ensuring pluralism of information, competition, and efficient television provision, and of preventing monopolistic practices in the operation and exploitation of television.
Since formulation of the 2004-2007 Television Development Plan, the Commission has proposed to establish interagency consultation groups to study, examine, and propose the transmission standard to be selected by the country, production policies for programs in digital format, and the coverages of the digital television system.
As a result, all players require a planning document containing DTT implementation guidelines, which sets out the objectives of the plan, proposals to achieve them, and an implementation method. Said document must permit the different players flexibility in exploiting the service openly (high definition digital television, broadcasting of multiple signals in standard digital format, and value added services, among others) and in accordance with market conditions.
As three different digital television broadcasting systems are available, and as it is important to take decisions in that connection, CNTV has participated in international seminars on the topic and consulted with experts on the DVB and ATSC systems of the United States, Argentina, and Brazil to review the status of digital television in Latin American and of its implementation in Colombia.
The Colombian Association of Engineers (ACIEM) has also recommended that a critical path be designed so that the country is able to gain more in-depth knowledge of digital formats, conduct demonstrations and propagation tests under different operating situations, review and compare selection criteria for the system most appropriate to the country’s needs, evaluate financial requirements for operators and investors and, determine, inter alia, the transition period for implementation of the format selected.
Actions and guidelines of the Colombian state for DTT definition and implementation
In light of the foregoing, among the strategies that must be implemented to develop the “Plan for Implementation of Digital Television in Colombia“ are:
3. Formulation of technological migration policies, contained in a transition plan, that take account of the conditions of current television operators
With the advent of digital terrestrial television, current national, regional, and local open television operators and concession holders, cable television and direct-to-home satellite television operators, and concessionaires of spaces, television broadcasting companies, content producers, advertising agencies, equipment and technology providers, television set producers, and value added service providers, among others, will be affected, and the market will adjust to the new conditions.
It should be noted that growing competition among the different television technologies to achieve larger advertising market share will lead to further advertising fragmentation and television supply segmentation, which will grow more acute with the greater flexibility that digital technology affords. The market will be more open and competitive and operators will find themselves in an environment of convergence of audiovisual media, information technology, and telecommunications.
For digital television operators, new opportunities are emerging to establish new interactivity-based business models and to create new channels, which will be, for a television model based on advertising income, such as Colombia’s, mechanisms to promote sector growth. Companies will have more communication channels to reach consumers, which will spur the advertising market through better opportunities to target messages.
The transition plan must define the technical standard, after an evaluation has been made of the costs and benefits of adopting the different alternatives; the process of migrating from analog to digital television, and coexistence of the two; compatibility of platforms (terrestrial, cable, and satellite), and the costs of conversion to digital technology and of programming, among others. Although in the initial phase, operators will have to incur the cost of modernizing their equipment, transmission of programs using digital technology is less costly as, among other things, it makes more efficient use of transmitter emission power.
4. Ensuring everyone of universal access to television services and, consequently, to information and communication technologies
In Colombia today, analog terrestrial television broadcasting is one of the most widely-known and important communication media, with coverage of over 90%. An average of 83% of homes have at least one television set, and 84.5% of the public customarily watches television. Therefore, updating today’s technological systems from analog to digital, maintaining the national network structure, will have major impact on households, as it will enable them to access a vast wireless source of information, and television sets will become multimedia terminals.
According to the latest estimates of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (CRT) of Colombia, as of December 2004, Internet penetration was 8.4%, a figure that remains low as compared to that of other, more developed Latin American countries. Therefore, the introduction of digital television is an opportunity to provide access to Internet content to those without personal computers and to continue disseminating information published by the state on its various portals,[7] which strengthens democracy and national identity and contributes to social equity.
The process would be implemented by means of new digital television equipment or low-cost converter boxes that enable digital content to be viewed on existing analog televisions. However, socioeconomic evaluations must be conducted of the ability of households to pay for these and the trends in that regard, options available to promote the acquisition of digital television sets, and media consumption trends in Colombia.
Digital technology will also substantially enhance television’s technical quality and expand the supply of content, so that there will be additional opportunities for different societal interests to be represented in the new medium through the implementation of thematic channels meeting specific needs not met by general content television. Accordingly, pluralism of information will become more visible, which is one of the country’s public television objectives. It will also promote access to culture, information, and entertainment for all, reducing the digital divide. Another important aspect is that it will make it possible to develop information and communication technology applications in strategic sectors such as education, health, and e-business.
Implementation of a single technical standard might be very useful for users, as they would be in a position to access, with a single piece of equipment, not only all operators’ television signals but also the available interactive services.
5. Promotion of industries involved in the DTT value added chain and associated with telecommunication service convergence
The series of industries or branches of economic activity that converge in the television business may today be categorized, in general, as those involved in production (content production industry) and those involved in signal transmission or broadcasting. There is also an electronics industry that provides equipment for signal production and transmission (terrestrial, cable, or satellite broadcasting systems).
With the advent of digital television, the industry’s value added chain will become more complex, and will comprise, inter alia, the following players:
i. Producers of content (both of analog television and of interactive products for digital television);
ii. Manufacturers of receiving equipment (equipment external to analog television receivers, digital equipment, and integrated analog/digital tuners);
iii. Manufacturers of transmission equipment;
iv. Developers of applications (such as integrated browsers, Electronic Programming Guides, and others that make it possible to interact with programming or to access new services such as telebanking, personalized information, on-line purchasing, advanced teletext, e-mail, interactive games, menu-driven television, etc.);
v. Providers of multiplex and interactive services, with responsibility for packaging in one frequency channel digital television programs, data, and interactive content, and for handling the users’ return product. Their work would resemble that of today’s Internet service providers;
vi. Advertising agencies and media centrals;
vii. Culture industry producers (movies, books, radio, press);
viii. Current open and closed television concession holders;
ix. Advertisers
Availing itself of the new business opportunities afforded by digital television, the Colombian state will seek to design new support mechanisms for national industry linked to the sector in order to enhance its productivity and competitiveness at the international level.[8]
Conclusions
In view of analog terrestrial television’s penetration and importance in Colombia, the introduction of DTT will have major impact on the public to the extent that it enables it to access new services and applications and contributes to providing mass access to the use of ICTs. In addition, the industry’s value added chain will be modified and the regulatory framework and spectrum administration will have to be adjusted to the new conditions. Accordingly, the Colombian state, with CNTV’s leadership, will continue to define and implement the “Plan for Implementation of Digital Television in Colombia,” for which it will develop in detail each of the above-mentioned strategies, determining the studies and technical and socioeconomic evaluations required as some of the activities for which the Plan provides.
3.4.2. Spectrum Planning for DTT
Spectrum planning and adjustment of the regulatory framework to the advent of digital television
CNTV now has a frequency plan that provides for the possibility of assigning frequencies for digital television. However, policy must be adopted for more efficient use of the spectrum, including the possibility of recovering a portion of it for new uses.
DTT enables more efficient use to be made of the radio spectrum, a scarce public resource. The same information may be transmitted via analog and digital television, but the latter uses less resources or makes it possible to transmit additional programs with the same spectrum resources. It should be noted that digital television must be introduced in Colombia with flexibility so that it can be adapted to future technological developments.
In regulating DTT, the following aspects, inter alia, must be defined:
- Eligibility conditions for DTT licensing;
- Procedures for awarding DTT licenses and distributing television channels, and competition policies;
- Terms and conditions for DTT licensing: whether DTT licenses are to be linked to analog television licenses or independent of them; license duration; public service obligations; free or conditional reception; minimum service requirements; hours of operation of digital television; degree of flexibility accorded DTT broadcasters; and requirements for high definition or other types of service, among others;
- Programming distribution conditions and content control: requirements for transmission of analog television programming over digital channels; requirements for transmission of terrestrial broadcasting over other transmission media, such as cable, satellite, and MMDS; measures to protect television broadcasting content vis-à-vis unauthorized redistribution; application of copyright provisions; advertising provisions, etc.;
- Conditions of distribution of equipment to consumers (DTT receivers and other consumer electronics associated with the service): minimum technical requirements for decoders of all formats, possible receiver performance requirements, compatibility with other transmission media (such as cable, satellite, and MMDS), etc.;
- Transition schedules: periods for building stations, reserving of frequencies for current analog television operators, period for conclusion of analog television broadcasting, recapture and reuse of the spectrum, period for award and assignment of DTT channels, etc.
3.5. Costa Rica[9]
2. Descripción del proceso
2. Antecedentes
Hasta el año 2007, los servicios de telecomunicaciones en Costa Rica fueron provistos por un único oferente.
Con la aprobación del Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos de América, República Dominicana y los países de Centroamérica (RD-CAFTA), el esquema se modificó, permitiendo la libre competencia en diversos servicios de telecomunicaciones.
A partir de ello, se emitieron normas jurídicas que permiten regular el sector, entre las cuales destacan: La Ley General de Telecomunicaciones (LGT), Ley N°8642 y la Ley de Fortalecimiento y Modernización de las Entidades Públicas del Sector Telecomunicaciones (LFMET), Ley N° 8660.
De conformidad con lo establecido en las leyes anteriormente citadas, surge la obligación del Poder Ejecutivo de emitir el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo de las Telecomunicaciones (PNDT).
Al tenor de ese mandato, la Rectoría de Telecomunicaciones se abocó a la elaboración del primer Plan Nacional de Desarrollo de las Telecomunicaciones 2009-2014 “Costa Rica: un país en la senda digital”, emitido el 15 de mayo del 2009. El Plan tal y como lo establece la normativa, es un instrumento de orientación general que señala las principales líneas de políticas, objetivos, acciones estratégicas y metas que deben guiar el desarrollo de las telecomunicaciones, como impulsor de la Sociedad de la Información y el Conocimiento en Costa Rica.
De esta manera, en uno de los Ejes del PNDT se establece una acción orientada a “Desarrollar la transición de la Televisión y la Radio de acceso libre o convencional (Radiodifusión) a Digitales, (conocida como TDT y RDT)…”
Así como también el Plan Nacional de Atribución de Frecuencias (PNAF) determinó que el Poder Ejecutivo debe promover la implementación del sistema de Televisión Digital, que asegure a los radiodifusores y usuarios contar con los últimos adelantos tecnológicos, y también garantizar que el Estado pueda disponer de bandas de frecuencias para la aplicación de los servicios móviles internacionales (IMT), una vez lograda la transición definitiva al sistema de televisión digital.
Para ello se emitió un Decreto Ejecutivo, con el cual se crea una “Comisión Especial Mixta para Analizar e Informar al Rector del Sector de Telecomunicaciones el posible estándar aplicable al país e implicaciones tecnológicas, industriales, comerciales y sociales de la transición de la Televisión Análoga a la Digital”.
La Comisión se conformó por diferentes actores que representan tanto al ente regulador como al ente rector de telecomunicaciones del país, representantes de universidades, así como representantes de cámaras de empresarios y televisoras. En cuanto a su funcionamiento, la Comisión delimitó su ámbito de acción a los siguientes ejes temáticos: Tecnológico, Industrial- Comercial (Económico) y Social. En cada uno de ellos se realizaron los estudios correspondientes tales como pruebas de campo, análisis de costos de los Set Top Box (STB) por cada estándar y análisis de impacto social, todos ellos reflejados en el informe final de la Comisión Mixta el cual recomendó al Poder Ejecutivo la adopción del estándar ISDB-Tb (Japón-Brasil) para las transmisiones de televisión digital terrestre en Costa Rica, ratificada como normativa nacional mediante Decreto Ejecutivo en junio del presente año.
En la siguiente figura se encuentran resumidos los pasos clave en el proceso de elección y adopción de un estándar, representado una primera etapa.
Figura 1: Primera etapa, adopción de un estándar
Fuente: Elaboración Propia
2. Transparencia y libre acceso a la información
Desde el inicio de las funciones de la Comisión, ésta fue clara en la necesidad de implementar un conjunto de acciones que permitieran que su trabajo transcurriera en un marco de transparencia y de apertura a los diversos sectores de la población. En esa línea varias medidas han sido implementadas, tales como: la grabación de audiencias, foros y publicación de todo el material generado en un sitio web.
1. Pagina Web
En la página web de la Rectoría de Telecomunicaciones[10] se han ubicado los documentos e insumos empleados por la Comisión. Ahí pueden encontrarse los informes elaborados por la Rectoría de Telecomunicaciones así como decretos, cuestionarios, protocolos, minutas de reuniones. Además, se muestra información acerca de los miembros de la Comisión, presentaciones grabadas de los diferentes estándares, metodología, documentación recibida, respuestas a consultas, cronograma de presentaciones de los distintos estándares y actas.
El apartado de presentaciones y cronograma muestra el directorio de todas las sesiones con sus respectivas fechas, horas, expositores, temas y estado de las sesiones. Además, se incluye un correo electrónico para consultas e inscripciones a las sesiones públicas. Por último, en el apartado de la Subcomisión Técnica, se pueden encontrar las minutas de reuniones, protocolo de pruebas de campo, el informe de las pruebas y datos de los miembros integrantes.
2. Trabajo actual
Después de elegido el estándar ISDB-Tb, se procedió a reestructurar los ejes de acción de la Comisión, para profundizar en diversos temas de la primera etapa y desarrollar algunos que no se habían tratado con anterioridad. Los nuevos ejes son: el Eje Socio-Económico, el Eje de Interactividad-Contenidos y el Eje Tecnológico. Para el tratamiento de éstos, se utilizan tanto los insumos aportados por el Gobierno Brasileño así como los insumos obtenidos por investigación propia.
Para algunos casos, se realizaron entrevistas a actores involucrados, como por ejemplo, entrevistas a importadores de equipos y distribuidores de televisores.
En los temas referentes al Eje Tecnológico, se elaboraron diversos estudios para recanalizar el espectro radioeléctrico, a fin de contribuir a establecer los plazos para el “encendido digital”.
En este tema, para lograr una transmisión totalmente digital en Costa Rica podrá tomar varios años, donde ese tiempo dependerá de los esfuerzos que se lleven a cabo por parte de los tres agentes involucrados: estado, usuarios y operadoras de televisión.
En el Eje Social se realizó en primer término, una revisión de las experiencias internacionales, así como entrevistas a los representantes del estándar brasileño. En cuanto a los perfiles del Plan de Cooperación y el Plan de Divulgación, se efectuó una consulta a los productores de los codificadores, representantes de las televisoras y medios de comunicación.
En el caso del Eje Económico, es preciso ahondar en consideraciones vinculadas al costo técnico de la transición, el precio de los equipos, entre otros.
Se tiene que la adopción y difusión de la televisión digital a nivel nacional es todo un reto para el Estado, pues debe garantizar la rentabilidad del cambio de tecnología para la industria de venta de televisores y dispositivos y además, debe asegurarse de que ningún individuo se quede sin acceso a la misma, ya que esto, sólo se traduciría en un incremento de la brecha digital y por ende, de la desigualdad socio-económica.
Para el caso del eje de Contenidos e interactividad la TV Digital es una necesidad tecnológica y a su vez, es una oportunidad para fomentar la diversidad cultural, por tanto, es necesario plantear estrategias de políticas audiovisuales que canalicen las oportunidades de convergencia tecnológica y de acceso a contenidos. Estas deben fomentar la pluralidad y promover la educación, cultura, entre otros; además de permitir el acceso a servicios estatales
La figura 2, muestra un resumen de las acciones que se están tomando en cuenta para la segunda etapa del proceso de transición, nótese en la barra de la izquierda el estado actual de proceso.
Figura 2: Segunda etapa, hacia el apagón analógico
Fuente: Elaboración Propia
A continuación, se enumera en detalle las acciones contenidas en la figura 2. En el apartado 2.3.1 se retoma el proceso y se describe con más detalle la ejecución de pruebas de campo para la escogencia del estándar.
1. Eje Socio-Económico
Objetivos Generales
Evaluar el impacto económico de la implementación de la TV digital en Costa Rica bajo el estándar ISDB-Tb tanto a nivel de los usuarios finales como de las televisoras.
Ampliar el análisis sobre los posibles impactos sociales de la transición hacia la TV Digital, profundizando en aspectos relacionados con las líneas básicas a considerar como parte de un plan de solidaridad, cooperación e información que garantice el acceso de los ciudadanos a la TV Digital.
Objetivos específicos del Eje Económico
▪ Investigar los precios de mercado y su evolución para los dispositivos terminales relevantes en la transición de analógico a digital, lo que incluye las posibilidades en el mercado de adquisición de equipos para la transmisión de la TV digital bajo el estándar ISDB-Tb.
▪ Cuantificar a nivel agregado el costo total de la implementación de TV Digital, incluyendo el costo de un Plan de Solidaridad.
▪ Identificar las líneas generales de políticas públicas en el aspecto económico para la transición a TV digital, incluyendo las posibles medidas de carácter fiscal.
Objetivos específicos del Eje Social
▪ Realizar un estudio con el objetivo de identificar las líneas generales de políticas públicas en los aspectos sociales para la transición a TV digital.
▪ Revisar las experiencias internacionales en TV Digital, a fin de proponer los elementos más importantes de un Plan que permita disminuir la brecha digital en el país.
▪ Proponer un esquema de Plan de Cooperación para la fase de transición hacia la Televisión Digital, que contribuya a facilitar la incorporación y el uso de la Televisión Digita por parte de toda la población.
▪ Recomendar un esquema mínimo de plan de información y divulgación de la transición hacia la televisión digital que permita instruir a la población y evacuar sus dudas sobre este proceso.
Temas a tratar en el Eje Económico
• Investigar los precios de mercado y su evolución para los dispositivos terminales relevantes en la transición de analógico a digital.
• Precios (y su evolución) de los dispositivos finales para los usuarios bajo el estándar ISDB-Tb.
• Precios de los equipos de transmisión y producción (televisoras).
• Imposiciones tributarias y arancelarias, origen de importaciones y posibilidades comerciales.
• Cuantificar a nivel agregado el costo total de la implementación de TV Digital, incluyendo el costo de un Plan de Solidaridad.
• Alcance y cobertura del Plan.
• Comportamiento sociodemográfico esperado.
• Plan de cooperación de los Gobiernos de Brasil y Japón.
• Identificar las líneas generales de políticas públicas en el aspecto económico para la transición a TV digital, incluyendo las posibles medidas de carácter fiscal.
Temas a tratar en el Eje Social – (contextualizado en el diagnóstico de la experiencia internacional).
• Perfil inicial de un Plan de Solidaridad
• Identificación de los actores públicos y privados que intervienen en la formulación, ejecución y evaluación del plan: entidades del gobierno central y descentralizado, empresarios, sector académico, entre otros.
• Determinación de los posibles roles, contribuciones y ámbitos competenciales de los actores públicos y privados en tres fases: la formulación, la ejecución y la evaluación del Plan.
• Investigar sobre posibles poblaciones beneficiaras en términos de acceso a Televisores y “Set Top Box”.
• Poblaciones meta de un Plan de Solidaridad.
• Establecer un cronograma aproximado de cumplimiento para un Plan de Solidaridad..
• Cuantificar el costo de implementación del Plan (esta parte se trabaja conjuntamente con el eje económico)
• Esquema mínimo de Plan de cooperación hacia la transición de televisión digital
• Identificación de los actores públicos y privados que intervienen en la formulación, ejecución y evaluación del Plan y los posibles roles, contribuciones y ámbitos competenciales durante tres fases: la formulación, la ejecución y la evaluación del Plan.
• Investigación de las áreas de cooperación (académicas, técnicas, publicidad, entre otros) y determinación de las acciones concretas del Plan que podrían ser desarrolladas mediante la cooperación internacional.
• Indagar sobre el contenido del aporte de la cooperación internacional en términos de:
• donación de recursos o de bienes (decodificadores).
• asistencia técnica y la capacitación.
• otorgamiento facilidades de financiamiento para la adquisición de los decodificadores y la ejecución de programas de generación de capacidades de uso.
• realización de actividades de promoción, publicidad, talleres, conferencias, entre otros.
• Cuantificar montos aproximados de la cooperación internacional.
• Establecer un cronograma aproximado de cumplimiento para un Plan de Cooperación
• Estructura mínima del Plan de información y divulgación de la transición hacia TV Digital
• Identificación de los roles del gobierno, televisoras, los distribuidores y representantes de marca.
• Identificar la población meta de los planes de información y divulgación
• Proponer los posibles mecanismos de información y divulgación según la población meta y zona geográfica:
• Difusión en medios de comunicación masiva (radio, prensa, televisión)
• Boletín electrónico
• Redes Sociales
• Pendones, vallas publicitarias
• Talleres y foros presenciales o virtuales
• Identificar la información y las áreas claves del proceso de transición a televisión digital que deben ser divulgada.
• Cuantificar costos de la ejecución del Plan de Información y Divulgación.
• Establecer un cronograma aproximado de cumplimiento para un Plan de Información.
2. Eje de Interactividad y Contenidos
Objetivo General
Establecer los lineamientos generales para una política nacional de promoción de la industria local de contenidos en televisión en miras a la transición a la televisión digital.
Objetivos específicos
• Identificar cómo la televisión digital cambia la industria de la televisión y qué oportunidades genera para la producción de contenidos con interactividad.
• Identificar los retos para lograr insertarse plenamente en la nueva tecnología.
• Promulgar iniciativas para la cooperación internacional y potenciar la estrategia país.
• Proponer el diseño de un plan nacional para enfrentar esos retos y promover el desarrollo de la industria de TV digital en CR.
Temas a tratar
• Cambio de paradigma de la TV analógica a la digital, fundamentalmente el cambio de paradigma de comunicación de masas a comunicación para nichos.
• Cómo Costa Rica da el salto directo a la industria de TV digital y a la producción para nichos globales.
• Oportunidades y retos económicos para el desarrollo de contenidos para nichos globales.
• Rol de los canales públicos costarricenses en el impulso del desarrollo de contenidos.
• Análisis de la legislación, normativa y regulación existente y como promueve o inhibe el desarrollo a futuro de los contenidos nacionales, y su comparación con legislaciones de otros países.
• Un levantamiento de las principales aplicaciones identificadas en otros países en temas producción e interactividad en televisión digital.
• Cronogramas de implementación y etapas sugeridas para el desarrollo de la industria de contenidos para la TV digital.
3. Eje Tecnológico
La principal labor en materia de la evaluación del Eje Tecnológico en la primera etapa estuvo orientada a la realización de las pruebas de campo y su posterior valoración de los resultados obtenidos. Para alcanzar tal objetivo, la Comisión Mixta procedió a conformar una Subcomisión Técnica para analizar y valorar los diversos estándares de televisión digital de acuerdo con la realidad de la sociedad costarricense, para lo cual realizaron las pruebas del caso.
1. Proceso de pruebas
Los tres tipos de pruebas que se desarrollaron fueron: pruebas en interiores, pruebas en exteriores y pruebas de movilidad. Para la evaluación de cada una de ellas, se utilizó una escala de calificaciones basándose en recomendaciones de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT).
El equipo electrónico utilizado para la realización de las pruebas fue aportado en calidad de préstamo en su totalidad por los miembros de la Subcomisión Técnica de Televisión Digital, el equipo transmisor utilizado fue:
• Un transmisor con una potencia de salida ajustada a 750 W para todos los estándares.
• Un modulador programable vía software en los 3 estándares ATSC/MPEG2, DVB-T/h2.64 e ISDB-Tb/h.264/1Seg.
• Un encoder en MPEG2 y H.264 para los tres estándares, incluido un codificador de H.264 para 1-Seg.
• Una antena configurada para canal 26, con ganancia de 11.86 dBi, instalada en una torre a 50 m de altura.
El equipo receptor utilizado fue:
• Mástil telescópico para 6 metros de altura.
• Una Antena Tipo Yagi, 10dBi de ganancia para exteriores, una antena telescópica (tipo conejo) para interiores y una antena omnidireccional para movilidad.
• Un Set Top Box para cada estándar.
• Un Televisor de pantalla LCD de 32 pulgadas y un televisor de 14 pulgadas.
• Un Medidor de intensidad de señal.
• Un Analizador de Espectro.
• Un Grabador de Vídeo.
• Una cámara fotográfica.
• Un GPS.
Las pruebas de campo se realizaron mediante el empleo de programas televisivos en alta definición debido a que es el que contiene mayor ancho de banda. No obstante, se realizaron pruebas de referencia en definición estándar ya que el flujo de datos transmitido contenía dos programas televisivos (uno en alta definición y otro en definición estándar).
En la pruebas se utilizó un transmisor ajustado al canal 26 con frecuencia central de 545 MHz, el cual se encuentra ubicado en el Volcán Irazú con coordenadas geográficas de 9o 58' 10.42" latitud norte y 83o 51' 34.34" longitud oeste; a una altitud de 3401.5 msnm, en 25 puntos de recepción fija en zonas de exteriores, interiores y movilidad.
1. Pruebas en exteriores, interiores y movilidad
La medición de señales de recepción en zonas exteriores se realizó en 20 lugares seleccionados a una distancia relativa entre 20 y 100 km del transmisor los cuales se pueden observar en un mapa digital[11]. Para la selección de los puntos de recepción se valoraron diferentes condiciones tales como: condiciones urbanas, condiciones topográficas y condiciones climáticas; mediante el uso de equipo de medición instalado en un vehículo móvil acondicionado para tal caso, con una antena tipo Yagi sobre un mástil de 6m de altura, buscando siempre la máxima señal de recepción.
Las pruebas de recepción en interiores se realizaron en 4 puntos del Valle Central. De ellos, se realizaron tres en San José, con características de entorno diferentes entre cada uno de ellos, tal como edificios y diferentes tipos de estructura. El cuarto punto se realizó en Santo Domingo de Heredia que corresponde a una zona típicamente urbana, predominada por edificaciones de un solo piso. En las pruebas se utilizó equipo de recepción de televisión y una antena telescópica ajustable mejor conocida como antena tipo conejo.
Para cada uno de los estándares se desarrolló una prueba de movilidad, que consistió en realizar un recorrido en la carretera de circunvalación entre la rotonda de Alajuelita y la rotonda de las Garantías Sociales y viceversa, a distintas velocidades, las cuales oscilaban entre los 0 hasta 80 km/h, utilizando una antena de recepción omnidireccional ubicada en el techo del vehículo. Para los tres casos se obtuvo como referencia el valor de la intensidad de la señal en el momento de inicio de la prueba. En la zona de desarrollo de la prueba, existe línea vista con el centro de transmisión. Al final de la prueba los miembros de la Subcomisión Técnica, otorgaban una valoración global de la calidad de la señal. Asimismo, se capturaron imágenes y vídeo en cada una de las pruebas.
Las pruebas de campo se fundamentaron en el “Protocolo de Pruebas de Televisión Digital”, la cual muestra el criterio de evaluación de calidad de la señal de audio y vídeo recibida, según la recomendación UIT-R BT.500 de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT).
2. Planificación del Espectro Radioeléctrico
Con la adopción del estándar ISDB-Tb y las ventajas que ofrece la televisión digital, para una eficiente administración del espectro Radioeléctrico y dentro de la segunda etapa del proceso de transición, es pertinente la elaboración de un plan de planificación del mismo.
Costa Rica establece legislación sobre el espectro radioeléctrico, en este sentido, el Plan Nacional de Atribución de Frecuencias (PNAF) es el instrumento que se utiliza en el país para regular a nivel nacional y de manera óptima, racional, económica y eficiente, el espectro radioeléctrico. Con el PNAF se pretende satisfacer las necesidades de frecuencias para el desarrollo de las redes de telecomunicaciones, promoviendo aquellas tecnologías que permitan optimizar el uso del espectro.
El espectro radioeléctrico para televisión comprende actualmente las bandas VHF (54-72 MHz, 76-88 MHz y 174-216MHz) y UHF (470-608 MHz y 614-806 MHz) tal como se ejemplifica en la siguiente tabla:
Tabla 1. Resumen de la atribución de las frecuencias de televisión
|Frecuencias |Asignación |Observaciones |
|54-72 MHz |Canales VHF: 2 - 4 |servicio de radiodifusión televisiva |
|76-88 MHz |Canales VHF: 5 y 6 |servicio de radiodifusión televisiva |
|174-216 MHz |Canales VHF: 7-13 |servicio de radiodifusión televisiva |
|470-608 MHz |Canales UHF: 14-36 |canales de número impar: Valle Central |
| | |canales de número par: Zona Rural |
|608-614 MHz |Radioastronomía |frecuencias exclusivas para el servicio de radioastronomía |
|614-806 MHz |Canales UHF: 38 al 69 |canales de número par: Valle Central |
| | |canales de número impar: Zona Rural |
|698–806 MHz |Canales UHF: 52 al 69 |Una vez realizada la migración de la televisión al sistema digital, este segmento |
| | |quedará atribuido a título primario para servicios IMT. |
Fuente: Elaboración Propia
Con la migración a televisión digital se tiene por tanto, que de los 402 MHz que actualmente se destinan a televisión, se mantendrían 264 MHz para radiodifusión televisiva, 108 MHz se atribuirían a servicios IMT (canales 52 al 69 en UHF) y 30 MHz para servicio fijo y móvil (canales 2 al 6 en VHF). En el espacio para radiodifusión se pueden emitir más de 100 programas simultáneos de televisión en definición estándar o cerca de 60 señales de televisión en alta definición. En la figura 3, se observa una representación de las frecuencias que quedarán libres después de que cesen las transmisiones en señal analógica, los canales del 7 al 51 seguirán siendo atribuidos a radiodifusión televisiva
Figura 3: Representación del espacio a liberar
| |VHF |
|Frecuencias |54-72 | |76-88 |
| |Espacio disponible |
|Concesionario | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |UHF |
|Frecuencias |698-806 MHz |
| |Servicios Móviles de Telecomunicaciones Internacionales (IMT) |
| |Dividendo digital |
|Concesionario | |
|PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW THE ACRONYM FOR HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION |19% recalled the acronym when prompted |
| |70% expects high definition programs to have better image quality |
| |30% expects better sound, 24% better quality, 19% sharpness and 15% |
| |better definition. |
|INTEREST FOR WATCHING PROGRAMS TRANSMITTED IN HIGH DEFINITION |81% is interested in watching high definition programs |
|KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DOLBY SOUND |69% knows or has heard about Dolby sound, out of which |
| |41% believe it provides higher quality sound and |
| |27% believes is the sound used in the theatre |
|KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SURROUND SOUND |62% knows or has heard about Surround sound, out of which |
| |23% believes the sound is more powerful, |
| |22% believe it provides higher quality sound and |
| |22% believes is the sound used in the theatre |
|KNOWLEDGE ABOUT 5.1 SOUND |22% knows or has heard about 5.1 sound, out of which |
| |26% defined it as sound coming from 5 speakers, |
| |21% said that it is Home Theatre sound and |
| |19% defined it as higher quality sound |
|DEVICE NEEDED TO SEE HDTV |48% said that a high definition TV was needed |
| |9% mentioned a plasma TV |
|RECEPTION OF HIGH DEFINITION PROGRAMS |28% can see high definition programs on their TV sets, out of which: |
| |22% said so because their television is HD |
| |16% said so because their television is plasma |
|REASONS WHY THEY DON’T HAVE A HDTV SET |46% expressed not watching HDTV because of having a normal TV set. |
| |20% because their TV set is not HD. |
| |15% because their TV set is not that modern. |
|CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LATEST TV |52% bought their latest TV three years ago |
| |17% bought it two years ago |
| |48% said their latest TV is not flat screen |
| |40% said it is flat screen. |
From those data it is evident that the public at large does not have a deep knowledge of the benefits and implicit improvements that can be obtained from migrating to this technology, which calls for awareness-raising advertisement campaigns and demonstrations by licensees and the authority, to foster consumption of digital television receivers in Mexico.
RECEIVERS
Despite the fact that the availability of digital receivers in the market is quite acceptable, and that their price has been lowered, it is not yet mass consumed by the public, which is fundamental to move forward with the TDT transition process. The reason for that is that the sector of the population that is actually purchasing them has access to pay-TV and to content of digital video disks (DVDs), so their incentive to purchase the receivers is not that of watching open TV broadcasted by licensees. Furthermore, the content of that signal is the same as the analogue signal.
Given this situation, there is a need to create a strategy that gets receivers sold in Mexico to include a digital tuner, or analogue and digital so that the market moves away from the analogue receiver.
CONCLUSIONS
The transition to terrestrial digital television is a process that involves economic, market, advertisement, technical and legal aspects that directly or indirectly have a bearing on the results of every Period established in the Policy.
These four years have been marked by the gradual increase in digital service coverage in the cities that have initiated transmissions in the past, as well as in the introduction of digital television in cities of or over one million and five hundred thousand inhabitants, which implies the need for significant investment by the licensees, but which also represent a great opportunity for the benefits of this technology to be made accessible to most part of the population in the cities that gradually become part of the digital transition process.
Throughout 2007, there was a slight increase in the sales of receivers with digital tuners mainly due to the lowering of the price of these devices, which would apparently positively impact the transition, with the exception that this sales increase does not necessarily relate to an increase in the willingness of the audience to watch digital content on the broadcasted signal, but rather to the desire to watch restricted television or for disc reproduction.
Given that the interest in and the knowledge of the benefits of digital television are low, there is a need to reinforce the promotion of this new technology by means of informative campaigns and demonstrations, to openly show the audience the improvements of digital television mainly in sound and image, to encourage receiver purchase.
It is deemed equally important to increase the exchange of opinions with the academic and industrial sector and users in order to enrich the transition process, as well as to favor the participation in national and international fora on the topic. Furthermore, to consider the works carried out in other countries to choose the digital television standard, or the transition processes and the development of economies of scale mainly in the American continent.
After four years of transition to TDT in Mexico, the Committee has gathered enough elements to have a clear vision of the horizon on this particular process. Exceeding certain goals set forth in the Policy during the first stage surely allows appreciating the possibility of a successful transition but also point out the implicit challenges and the complexity inferred from the analysis presented herein. The experience acquired, as well as the joint work of the industry and the competent authorities have accomplished this important partial victory, and with a view to furthering these studies, as well as developing the mechanisms that will allow us to fine tune the tools that favor a better implementation of this technology, we observe that it is convenient for the Committee to perform an integral revision of the Policy.
Background
Every year, the Consultative Committee on Digital Technologies for Broadcasting (the Committee), comprised of the government authorities and the industry, draws up an assessment report on the basis of the reports of the concession and permit holders who are authorized at least one additional channel for the transition to Digital Terrestrial Television.
From January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009, the transition process is in the second of six three-year periods for the transition, where the digital replication of commercial signals for the first period is envisaged (90% of the coverage of the analog signals of the cities of the first period) and the presence of commercial digital signals in coverage areas comprised of one and half million inhabitants or over (20% of the coverage of the analog channel).
Report on the transition during 2008
By December 31, 2008, a total of 48 channels had been authorized for the transition, and of these, 36 were already operating. In 2008, 12 channels were authorized, which are in the process of being installed and trial operations of three digital stations started up.
Signal quality
Radio broadcasters report a high-quality signal, with a total of 8,760 hours transmitted in the HDTV 1920 x 1080e format. For operation on all the stations, programs are transmitted in the HDTV format, with up conversions as not all programs are generated and transmitted in high definition, because of the cost this implies, and that is why only certain are generated on HDTV at certain hours.
Transmission contents are the same as those of the analog signal in compliance with the provisions of the policy.
Audience
Audience levels in digital transmissions are considered to be virtually non-existent, on the basis of the idea that when there is an audience in television broadcasting, there is always a direct feedback with the concession holder by the television viewers, which is something that has almost never happened. In addition, companies that measure audience ratings only do so for restricted or analog services but not for open digital service.
Receivers
Some radio broadcasters indicated that it is likely that the population acquiring digital receivers belongs to a sector with access to pay television and contents on digital video compact disks, and therefore the incentive for buying these receivers is not for the capacity to see the digital signal broadcast by the concession holders. Another broadcaster reported a rise in the exposure of digital television receiver equipment in shopping centers and department stores for nationwide distribution, but whose promotion focuses on the use of digital video disk equipment, and pointed out that, despite the rise in sales, the process could improve when the standard is fully used.
Permitted stations
The transition policy points out that, in the third period, between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012, there must be non-commercial signals in areas with a coverage of one and half million inhabitants and over.
This guideline must be especially observed, since all permit-holding stations rely, for their operation, on government allocations. Because of this, the transition to DTT must be an issue in which public institutions to which the permit-holding stations of the third period belong and those that are added to the process in coming years, focus special attention on programming and budgeting the inputs that are needed to comply with the policy and start up digital transmission in the established three-year period.
Review of the issues related to the transition process
The transition to digital television has proven to be full of challenges for the parties who are involved in it directly or indirectly. Economic, market, advertising, technical and legal factors are exerting an impact on the results for each period envisaged in the policy, so that the speed whereby the potential of digital terrestrial television is disseminated to the population, the number of digital receivers sold and used to see broadcasting signals and the best use of the standard chosen by our countries bring together various government institutions with broadcasters and equipment manufacturers and distributors.
In view of the above, the Committee has fully discussed the need to analyze the conditions and context that could support any statement aimed at proposing changes or reorienting any of the policy guidelines.
2008 was an important year for planning the Committee’s work, aimed at integrally reviewing the transition process. The result is an ambitious plan that has identified and outlined various lines of action that should be implemented over the short and medium term and whose purpose is to promote the penetration of DTT services and a better understanding of the service among the population.
Among other guidelines, the following has been considered:
1. Rating
One of the principal needs for assessing the process is measuring real audience levels of digital television signals. Unfortunately, at this time, the companies involved in conducting this type of study (IBOPE and Nielsen) can only measure ratings on restricted television systems or for open analog television.
Because of the above, the Committee shall be mindful of when companies start making these measurements for DTT.
2. DTT promotional campaign
The population’s limited knowledge about the advantages and improvements of digital television is an essential part of this technology’s implementation. Because of this, it is essential to disseminate simple information through as many channels as possible to explain why it is advisable to acquire digital receivers to enjoy the programming that is broadcast.
Because of the above, an advertising spot shall be prepared for transmission by open television concession holders.
Likewise, the National Chamber of Radio and Television Industry (Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Radio y la Televisión—CIRT) shall be installing a slot on its web page to show the promotional video, as well as to provide information on the transition to DTT.
3. Surveys on service and receiver penetration
As mentioned earlier, at present there are no statistical studies aimed at measuring the penetration of digital television services or the number of digital receivers. This absence of reliable data generates a large gap because any attempt to assess who is watching DTT ends up by being highly speculative.
As a result of the above, the Federal Telecommunication Commission has managed to include a question in the National Survey on the Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households (Encuesta Nacional de Disponibilidad y Uso de Tecnologías de la Información en los Hogares—ENDUTIH) drawn up by the National Institute on Statistics, Geography and Informatics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática—INEGI), to be conducted in the second semester of this year. The question shall be measuring (using a card bearing pictures) the type of receiver that can be found in the 7,000 households of the sample.
In addition to this statistical instrument, it is deemed advisable to conduct surveys that gather more detailed information on the cities where digital signals are already available, for the purpose of having information about the penetration of DTT services.
Conclusions
The transition process requires concrete actions to identify the opportunities favoring implementation of this technology among the population.
The Committee recognizes the efforts made by concession holders to comply with the provisions of the policy, and because of this it continues to work to create increasingly better conditions for the process to continue as best as possible. The actions highlighted in the previous section are only some of many that need to be carried out, and work is being done on drawing up more strategies that would make it possible to use digital technology more efficiently, so that the population can benefit from higher-quality services.
Participation of the many parties involved in the process is increasingly important because the transition cuts across various issues, sectors and activities as described in the present report. In view of this reality, all players involved in the process shall be invited to attend the meetings of the Committee’s Working Groups and to cooperate in drawing up and implementing new strategies.
3.89 Paraguay
3.89.1 National Experience and Approach no DTT Planning and Implementation
INTRODUCTION
The National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) of the Republic of Paraguay, acting by virtue of its powers set forth by Telecommunications Act Number 642/95, being one of them the issuance of regulations on matters of telecommunications and the approval of technical standards, has for some years accompanied and studied the evolution of the various Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcasting systems that exist in the world, specially, under the scope of the works of the Broadcast Thematic Commission of the Working Subgroup Nº 1 “Communications” of the Common Market of the Southern Cone (MERCOSUR) and this Consultative Committee.
In line with the regional trend, where several countries have adopted Terrestrial Digital Television systems, CONATEL is in charge of the activities that will allow the country to adopt a standard.
ACTIVITIES
In that framework, on September 2007, it held an event called “Mega Conference on Telecommunications”; the agenda for the first day included a Discussion Panel on the main Standards of Terrestrial Digital Television.
National authorities, representatives of agencies and international companies, television broadcasting station operators, technicians, public at large and qualified personnel of CONATEL attended for listening to the high-caliber speakers who presented the characteristics of the following systems:
✓ ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee)
✓ DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial)
✓ ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting – Terrestrial)
✓ SBTVD (Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital)
✓ DVB-H: (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld)
The content of the presentations are available on CONATEL’s (Paraguay) website:
After this event, the Chair of CONATEL has created a Working Group to carry out the tasks of the process of adopting a standard in Paraguay.
In this sense, our country is furthering talks with the representatives of the various systems so as to be able to perform field technical tests, which will provide a basis for analyzing and assessing the various standards. These tests shall be performed under the provisions set forth by report ITU-R BT.2035-1 “Guidelines and Techniques for the evaluation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting systems”, issued by the International Telecommunication Union. Furthermore, and simultaneously, the possible impacts of the adoption of a particular Digital TV system on the socio-economic aspect.
The following people may take part in the field tests: technicians involved in the television sector (operators), representatives of national and private universities, as well as CONATEL professionals.
Finally, there is no doubt that adopting a Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcasting System is of uttermost importance, both at a national and regional level, as it delivers new services, improves quality, allows interactivity, and brings about all the benefits offered by digital technology. In consequence, CONATEL is currently devoted to performing the tasks that this process requires, which will lead to the adoption of the most suitable Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcasting system for the Republic.
INTRODUCTION[17]
The Office of the President of the Republic Paraguay instructed the National Telecommunication Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones—CONATEL) to conduct a study and make a recommendation on the Digital Terrestrial Television standard to be adopted in the Republic of Paraguay for television broadcasting service and to set up a Consultative Committee to provide advisory services in this matter.
Law No. 642/95 “On Telecommunications” creates CONATEL and points out that: “It pertains to the State to promote, control and regulate telecommunications, which shall carry out these duties by means of a National Telecommunication Commission in the framework of an integrated policy for services, providers, users, technology and industry.” It also provides that “The National Telecommunication Commission shall be in charge of the administrative and technical regulation and planning, programming, monitoring, auditing and overseeing of telecommunications in line with the applicable regulatory framework and the policies of the Government for the sector.” Furthermore, it establishes the following other duties: issuing regulations on telecommunications, adopting technical standards, and managing the radio spectrum.
In view of these premises and the need to define the Digital Terrestrial Television standard to be used throughout the country’s territory, as well as the major importance of this decision, as it must be the outcome of a multi-sector debate in which all sectors involved must participate, it is important to set up a Consultative Council, comprised of public institutions and telecommunication service providers that are affected by the matter so that they can advise CONATEL as the country’s regulatory body for telecommunications.
Therefore, the President of the Republic of Paraguay has instructed the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL) to conduct a study and make a recommendation on the Digital Terrestrial Television standard to be adopted in the Republic of Paraguay for Television Broadcasting Service.
PROCESS FOR ADOPTING THE DTT STANDARD IN PARAGUAY
Thus, the Consultative Council to advise CONATEL in everything involving the Digital Terrestrial Television standard to be adopted in the country was established.
This Consultative Council was comprised of representatives from the:
← Honorable Senate
← Honorable House of Representatives
← Ministry of Industry and Commerce
← Ministry of Public Works and Communications
← Secretariat of Information and Communication for Development
← National Council of Science and Technology
← School of Engineering of the National University of Asunción
← Polytechnic School of the National University of Asunción
← Informatics Department of the Office of the President of the Republic
← License holders of the Television Broadcasting Service
← License holders of the Mobile Cell Telephony Service (Servicio de Telefonía Móvil Celular—STMC) and Personal Communications Service (Servicio de Comunicaciones Personales—PCS)
CONATEL was in charge of the Coordination of the Consultative Council.
On the basis of the above, meetings were held with the members of the Consultative Council and invitations were extended to the representatives of the various Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) standards.
Speakers who were delegates from the governments of Japan, Brazil, and the European Union attended the meeting. Videoconference meetings were also held with representatives from Uruguay and Peru.
The presentations are available on the web page of CONATEL:
Afterwards, the members of the Consultative Committee sent their suggestions regarding the adoption of the DTT standard to CONATEL.
Finally, a public hearing was held making it possible for all sectors of the population to participate in the process of adopting the DTT standard.
To draft the Report of the study and recommendation on the DTT standard to be adopted in Paraguay for Television Broadcasting Services and submitted to the Office of the President of the Republic, in compliance with the mandate given to CONATEL, the “Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Implementation Guide” of Permanent Consultative Committee II of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American States (OAS) was taken as a baseline.
Basically the following objectives are mentioned:
← Higher technical quality
← Higher quality and wider variety of services
← New information and social inclusion services
← Portability
← Spectrum efficiency and recovery
← Industrial development and economic growth
Other goals deemed to be important for CONATEL are the following:
← Adaptability to economic conditions
← Margin for gradual introduction, minimizing social risks and costs
← Consumer protection against premature obsolescence of DTT products
← Provision of new applications facilitating access to culture, information and entertainment
← Promotion of the production of contents and new business opportunities
← Fostering solutions that support the development of culture and education
← Promotion of social inclusion, the country’s cultural diversity, and the official language by access to digital technology, aimed at democratizing information
← Taking advantage of the possibility of free access of digital television users to portability and mobility
← Possibility of developing royalty-free interactivity resources inside and outside the country’s territory
← Regional integration in the context of the decision adopted by the other countries of the South American region and the subregion of MERCOSUR
← Economic cost for Paraguay of DTT insertion and replacement of analog television
Thus, by means of Decree No. 4.483 of June 1, 2010 (amended by Decree No. 4.615 of June 24, 2010), the Japanese-Brazilian standard ISDB-Tb or SBTVD was adopted for DTT in the Republic of Paraguay.
This Decree mentions that it considers that CONATEL has fostered opportunities for pluralistic and timely participation as part of the process that concluded with a public hearing. On the basis of the above, CONATEL recommends choosing the Japanese-Brazilian standard as the DTT standard in Paraguay. Furthermore, the decision-making criteria adopted by CONATEL for the recommendation it made to the Executive Branch of Government are in line with the recommendations of the OAS Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). Finally, it points out that the decision shall make it possible to highlight the mutual collaboration ties with the member countries of MERCOSUR and other administrations of the Region’s other countries.
The same Decree instructs CONATEL to conduct reviews of technical and regulatory matters that will make it possible to implement the DTT system.
3.910. Peru
Introduction
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) is the application of digital technology to the transmission of content, and it is more robust than analog television in terms of noise and interference. This means greater advantages, such as the possibility of providing a greater number of channels, better image quality or high definition (HD) image and better sound quality, similar to DVD quality. It also allows interactivity through the use of a return channel between consumer and content producer.
The Peruvian government promotes the development of digital broadcasting. To that end, the Ministry of Transport and Communications is taking the necessary measures relating to the radio spectrum and adopting the corresponding technical standards according to international trends, greater efficiency and maximum benefit for the country.
Adoption of the digital terrestrial television standard
Supreme Resolution No. 010-2007-MTC dated 21 February 2007 established the Multisectoral Commission so that the latter might recommend the digital terrestrial television (DTT) standard to be adopted in Peru to the Ministry of Transport and Communications within 120 days.
The Commission was made up of representatives of the following entities:
✓ Ministry of Transport and Communications (which acted as chair)
✓ Ministry of Production
✓ Ministry of Foreign Relations
✓ Presidency of the Council of Ministers, at the proposal of:
-National Radio and Television Institute of Peru (IRTP)
-National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI)
✓ Radio and Television Advisory Council (CONCORTV)
The initial plan was to evaluate the ATSC, DVB-T and ISDB-T standards. Later, in light of aspects related to i) the requests by the delegations from Europe and Japan and broadcasters to conduct a comparative evaluation of the standards, ii) evaluation of the implications of portability, given the significant level of development of mobile services, iii) the inclusion of DTMB (China) and ISDB-T standards with Brazilian innovations, and iv) a necessary period for receiving economic and cooperation information on some standards, the deadline the Commission initially had for submitting its final report was extended until 28 February 2009.
On 2 March 2009, the Multisectoral Commission submitted its final report to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Finally, by means of Supreme Resolution No. 019-2009-MTC published 24 April 2009, the ISDB-T standard was adopted as the DTT system for Peru, with the technological improvements in place at the time of its implementation.
Method used by the Commission to draft the Recommendation Report
The following activities were carried out with respect to the method used by the Commission to draft its final report:
✓ Conducting of relevant tests and demonstrations and evaluation of their results
✓ Call for participation by the public, private and academic sectors
✓ Holding of seminars and/or public hearings with the main stakeholders linked to the topic
✓ Visits to the main program production and television transmission centres
The following aspects were also evaluated:
✓ Technical (field tests). Technical characteristics of standards, spectrum use efficiency, convergence of services.
✓ Economic (cost assessment). Contribution to universal access, bridging of the digital divide.
✓ Technical cooperation (supply of standards). Development of the information society, business opportunities.
Criteria for recommendation of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) standard
The criteria evaluated by the Multisectoral Commission for development of the final report and included in its work plan were as follows:
✓ Technical characteristics of the standards.
✓ Promotion of efficient use of the radio spectrum
✓ Promotion of the convergence of telecommunication services
✓ Contribution to bridging the digital divide, universal access and development of the information society
✓ Economies of scale
✓ Promotion of the audiovisual industry, generating new opportunities for business
✓ Promotion of research, technological development, innovation and human capabilities in the field of DTT.
Radio spectrum planning for digital television broadcasting
The National Frequency Allocation Plan (PNAF) was amended by means of Ministerial Resolutions No. 645-2006-MTC/03, dated 23 August 2006, and No. 489-2007-MTC/03, dated 30 August 2007, to stipulate that the band 470-584 MHz is reserved for nationwide DTT broadcasting service, and that for as long as that situation is in effect, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will not make new assignments within that band, with the exception of channels 29, 30, 31 and 32, which could be assigned exclusively to the conducting of tests and demonstrations inherent to digital television for a non-renewable period of six months.
By means of Ministerial Resolution No. 211-2007-MTC/03, published 9 May 2007, it was stipulated in the PNAF that the Ministry of Transport and Communications may use the various frequency bands to conduct tests and demonstrations of telecommunications equipment with a view to promoting convergence of services and technologies, regardless of the allocation of the band and its reserve status. To that end, it may issue the provisions it deems necessary.
Lastly, by means of Ministerial Resolution No. 317-2009-MTC/03, published in the Official Gazette El Peruano of 24 April 2009, reserve of the 470-608 MHz and 614-746 MHz bands for nationwide DTT broadcasting service was established in the PNAF. It was also stipulated that for as long as that reserve is in effect, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will not make new assignments within the above-mentioned bands, and that the aforementioned reserve will not apply to the frequencies assigned prior to the entry into effect of the provision.
Further information on the work carried out by the Multisectoral Commission is available on the Web page of the Ministry of Transport and Communications via at the following link:
[3.810.1 . Spectrum Planning for DTT
The Commission for the Study and Definition of Digital Broadcasting Standards established by the Peruvian Administration has recommended the reservation of Band IV: 470-584 MHz, from channel 14 to channel 32 of TV, inclusive, for nationwide digital terrestrial television broadcasting service. This recommendation was assessed by the Consultative Committee of the National Frequency Assignment Plan (Plan Nacional de Atribución de Frecuencias—PNAF), which has proposed the necessary changes to the PNAF.
Regarding this, the proposal to change the PNAF to reserve the 470–584 MHz band for nationwide digital terrestrial television broadcasting service was published in Peru’s Official Register (Diario Oficial El Peruano) on June 7, 2006, that is, while this situation lasts, the Ministry shall not make any new assignments in this band. For the previously assigned frequencies, the above-mentioned reservation shall not be applied and the Ministry shall set the date on which the assigned frequency reservation shall come into force.
A time-limit of ten (10) working days has been set for receiving comments, and it expires on June 21, 2006.
3.810.2 . National Experience and Approach to DTT Planning and Implementation
Introduction
As a communications medium, television contributes to public opinion formation, and therefore constitutes a highly important national telecommunication service. Digital television is a clear manifestation of the coming major changes worldwide, affording better image quality and compact disc sound quality, with the added value of access to new telecommunication service facilities and their consequent additional program offerings, using the same radio frequency resource.
As digital television facilitates access to different services, promoting interaction among the television program producers of the world’s large information markets and utilizing the connection with service providers, it will become an effective complementary medium for bridging the digital divide.
Digital Television in Peru
The Peruvian state is promoting the implementation of digital broadcasting, assigning to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications the planning and development of Peru’s telecommunication services, and heading up the coordination necessary among the different agents comprising the value chain. The Communications Subsector has responsibility for ownership of television broadcasting, reservation of frequencies, and developing and implementing state plans and programs related to management, supervision, and control of the radio spectrum utilized to provide digital television, with the aim of ensuring pluralism of supply, competition, and efficiency, and of avoiding monopolistic practices in its operation.
The Office of the Deputy Minister has established a commission to study, review, and, if appropriate, propose the transmission standard to be chosen by Peru, indicating the scopes of the digital TV system, by preparing a document to serve as the basis for drafting a Plan to implement digital television in Peru.
The agents involved in the value chain must have a document giving details of planning guidelines for the implementation of digital terrestrial television. The document should contain the Plan’s objectives, proposals for achieving them, and an appropriate method therefore.
The initial guidelines will be based on open signal television distributed free of charge, broadcasting based on a multiple-image format television standard, with a high definition television option and value added services, particularly in new applications, such as, inter alia, telemedicine, and distance education for groups living in areas needing such facilities, all in keeping with the services market.
Efforts will also be made to facilitate the availability of a return channel for interactive digital television and to enable new telecommunication services to be developed.
Guidelines for Implementation of Digital Television in Peru
1. Guidelines for mass access to digital television and ICT services
In Peru’s environment, analog television is one of the most important means of mass communication with its people. Taking as reference 2003 National Household Survey (ENAHO) data, 77% of the population has at least one television set, and an estimated 80% of the public watches television.
Therefore, conversion from analog to digital television will impact households significantly, as it will enable them to access a large wireless source of information, domestic television sets serving as terminals to access innovative multimedia services.
Compared with other countries in the region, in Peru, Internet penetration remains low. We therefore consider the introduction of digital television an opportunity to provide access to Internet content to groups without personal computers and to continue to disseminate public and private sector information that contributes, on the one hand, to knowledge of state activity, taking advantage of the different services provided and, on the other, to interaction with opportunities afforded by the private sector.
2. Guidelines for transition to digital television
As three systems are available on the international market -- ATSC in the United States; DVB in Europe; and ISBN in Japan -- and given the importance of knowledge of them, the Vice Minister of Communications has facilitated the holding of international seminars on the first two standards. The experiences of other Administrations in the region are also being reviewed.
Having made an exhaustive evaluation of the technological alternatives and of their costs and benefits, and taking account of social inclusion needs, the standard to be adopted by Peru must be determined in order to continue migration from analog to digital broadcasting, providing a prudent period of coexistence between the two systems. It is also advisable to make compatible the three broadcasting platforms: terrestrial, cable, and satellite.
Companies operating television chains, cable TV companies, direct satellite TV companies, program production agencies, advertising agencies, and all other members of the value chain will be impacted by the advent of digital television technology. Such changes will be reflected on the services market.
With new channels available to authorized digital television companies, new types of business are envisaged, based on advertising income, the main source of revenue, which will vitalize the market. Also anticipated is greater advertising fragmentation, as a result of segmentation of the television program supply, so that program production activity will play a key part.
3. Spectrum planning and the regulatory environment
One priority identified in our Administration is planning of digital terrestrial broadcasting channels, as reserving frequency resources will be a priority, whatever standard is chosen. To that end, the work being done by the commission designated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is giving consideration to, inter alia, ITU-R Recommendation BT.1368, “Planning criteria for digital terrestrial television services in the VHF/UHF bands,” and to experiences of other Administrations of assignment on multifrequency networks, offset techniques, and single frequency networks for the deployment of stations based on optimization of radio frequency resources and premised on utilization of the same frequency channel bandwidth as given by the standard in force.
The radio spectrum will be used more efficiently with digital terrestrial television, as it enables more programs to be transmitted with the same frequency resources. Migration to the UHF band is planned in Peru’s environment, as is simultaneous operation for an appropriate period of analog and digital transmissions, at the end of which frequency band segments may be available for use in other telecommunication services. The National Frequency Allocation Plan (PNAF) also provides for reservation of the corresponding frequency band.
As regards regulation of digital terrestrial television, account must be taken of the following:
- Requirements for awarding digital terrestrial television station licenses;
- Planning channels in accordance with service areas;
- Licensing of analog television broadcasting licensees and of new digital terrestrial television operators;
- Duration of the transition period, during which analog transmission will be concluded;
- Market availability of digital receivers and encoders, including their cost.
4. Promotion of the industrial sector and derived services
With the advent of digital television technology, ever-greater complexity of the television value chain is anticipated, generating a series of new elements, among them:
a. Providers of transmission equipment, in conformity with the standard;
b. Providers of receiving equipment, such as digital television sets, adapter boxes, and double synthesizing equipment for both analog and digital systems;
c. Providers of software to provide guidance on program guides, Internet-related services, increased ATM machine activity, teletexting, on-demand television, etc.;
d. Producers of public and private sector programs and content;
e. Providers of interactive services and providers that bring together on a single frequency channel digital television programs, data, and interactive content, and return from users who initially were only receivers;
f. More advertising agents;
g. Multiplicity of advertisers.
5. The international environment
We consider that what has been thus far achieved through CITEL’s efforts, enriched by experiences of member states that have opted for digital television, is essential in achieving a better profile for the implementation of digital television in Peru. We also await with anticipation likely developments in countries of the region.
Epilogue
As the television industry’s value chain undergoes major expansion, existing regulatory legislation d, planning, and frequency spectrum management will have to be adjusted to conditions prevailing at the time, with the aim of achieving a harmonized framework for implementation of the service.]
3.1011. United States
3.1011.1. National Goals
The United States is now approaching the end of its transition to digital television broadcasting, with the cessation of analog television broadcasting to take place on June 12, 2009. (Approximately one-third of U.S. television stations are already relying exclusively on digital broadcasting, but the U.S. Congress passed a law extending the deadline for the cessation of analog broadcasts from February 17 to June 12, 2009.) The ATSC Digital Television (DTV) Standard, which is used for DTT broadcasting in the U.S., is a powerful technology that is transforming the nature of broadcast television service. The ATSC Standard gives broadcasters many new capabilities to serve the public, such as HDTV and standard resolution pictures, multicasting, data delivery, interactive communication, robust reception modes, and other features. Mobile and handheld capabilities have now been developed and tested and will be formally added to the ATSC Standard in 3Q09. These capabilities provide broadcasters the technical flexibility and options to compete with other digital media such as cable and direct broadcast satellite services. The ATSC DTV standard was developed through a lengthy initial specification process that began in 1987 and its evolution is continuing today, due to the flexibility for extending the digital system to include new capabilities as technology continues to develop. Coincident with the development of the transmission technology, the U.S. Government, though actions by its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and legislation by the U.S. Congress, developed public policies under which digital television has been implemented. This section presents an overview of the approach taken in the U.S. for developing and implementing DTV service using the ATSC family of DTV standards.
The U.S. Government has implemented broadcast DTV service as a replacement technology for the existing analog National Television System Committee (NTSC) technology that has been used for transmission of broadcast television service in the United States since the late 1940s. Under this policy approach, all eligible existing television stations were provided a second channel to be used for DTV service during a transition period from the analog to digital operation. This transition period, which began in 1998, was intended to facilitate an orderly change to the digital television technology while taking account of consumer investments in analog television sets. At the end of the transition period, TV stations will cease analog transmissions so that all broadcast television service will then be in the digital format. The FCC will also recover one of each TV station’s two channels at this time. Because operation with the ATSC standard is very spectrum efficient, it is possible for all of the existing TV stations to operate in a much smaller amount of spectrum bandwidth, thereby allowing a portion of the existing TV channels 2-69 to be recovered for new uses. Under the U.S. Government plan, all DTV stations will operate on channels 2-51 (the DTV core spectrum) after the transition ends and channels 52-69 (698 MHz to 806 MHz) will be recovered and reused for new uses.[18]
In developing policies for this change, the FCC adhered to four goals for TV service: 1) to preserve a free, universal broadcasting service; 2) to foster an expeditious and orderly transition to digital television while taking account of consumer investment in NTSC television sets; 3) to manage the spectrum to permit the recovery of contiguous blocks of spectrum, so as to promote spectrum efficiency and to allow the public the full benefit of its spectrum; and 4) to ensure that the spectrum (both DTV channels and recovered channels) will be used in a manner that best serves the public interest. In the context of introducing a DTV standard, the FCC enumerated the following goals: 1) to ensure that all affected parties have sufficient confidence and certainty in order to promote the smooth introduction of a free and universally available digital broadcast television service; 2) to increase the availability of new products and services to consumers through the introduction of digital broadcasting; 3) to ensure that its rules encourage technological innovation and competition; and 4) to minimize regulation.
Government regulations (rules which have the effect of law) and policies (standard practices for implementing regulations) in the United States are formulated and implemented through processes that are strictly controlled by statutory directives. These processes are designed to ensure that all affected parties are provided an opportunity to participate in the development of regulations and that the decisions of appointed agency officials are fairly reasoned and not arbitrary or capricious. The standard process for development of communications regulatory policy in the United States is for the regulatory agency, which in the case of television broadcasting is the FCC, to develop policy proposals, consult with the public (including industry interests) on those proposals, and then adopt final rules.
Under this process, the FCC issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to set forth its proposals and solicit comment, provides a fixed period for submission of comments on those proposals and replies to comments, and then issues a Report and Order that provides a final decision that includes final rules and policies and an explanation of the decision. If affected parties believe that the FCC’s decision is in error or that the FCC did not consider some information that was available, they may submit petitions for reconsideration. In cases where petitions are filed, the FCC issues a public notice requesting comment and reply comments on the issues raised in the petitions and, after weighing all of the information submitted in the petitions and pleading, issues a Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing those issues and making any changes in its rules or polices that it might deem appropriate. The U.S. Congress also participates in the policy development process as it deems necessary through statutory directives that either instruct the FCC to establish specific rules or statutory provisions that apply directly to regulated entities such as TV station licensees.
In some cases the FCC also conducts inquiries to gather information prior to the issuance of specific proposals. An inquiry is usually conducted as a formal proceeding in which the FCC issues a Notice of Inquiry that identifies the issues and questions that it intends to investigate and provides time periods for the submission of formal comments/responses and replies. In conjunction with an inquiry the FCC may also undertake independent research with its own resources. In the case of larger issues or major matters involving research and development, the FCC may also establish a Federal Advisory Committee to assist it. An Advisory Committee is a group of individuals from the private sector with knowledge, special expertise, resources or interests in the matter to be investigated that is appointed by the FCC to carry out specific research or advisory tasks. The FCC sets forth a charter for the advisory committee that specifies its functions and responsibilities and chooses its members, including a chairperson. That chairperson then organizes the advisory committee and assigns its members tasks. Advisory committees often have subcommittees with chairpersons under the main committee and working parties that report to the subcommittees.
The procedures described above have all been applied in developing the many policy decisions over the 22-year effort that has brought the U.S. to where it is now in the DTV implementation process. The FCC, with the occasional but important support and direction of the U.S. Congress, has not employed a single comprehensive policy program but rather has tailored its approach to the circumstances of specific stages of technical and policy development. The FCC’s approach has been to make some specific decisions to guide development as information and progress indicated was appropriate, and then to make further decisions as additional progress occurs.
When this process started in 1987, it was not about digital television. Rather, in the beginning the subject was “Advanced Television Service” (ATV service) and there were only some vague ideas for improving television service. There was a population of new television technologies that were in various stages of design that sought to improve significantly upon television picture and sound quality. These technologies were all analog and embraced different approaches. Some used different amounts of spectrum and different transmission and reception methods. The FCC began its work in this environment with a Notice of Inquiry in response to a petition for notice of inquiry from a large group of American television broadcasters. This inquiry asked questions about advanced television technologies, spectrum allocations (including which spectrum should be used for ATV services), NTSC compatibility, and transition issues. To assist it in this work, the FCC established an advisory committee, the “Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS) that consisted of 30 members who were leaders of major broadcast television, cable television, consumer electronics, program production, and computer industry firms. The ACATS was charged with evaluating ATV technologies and developing appropriate recommendations to the FCC. At the same time, the FCC issued an Order stating that it would not accept applications for new television stations in 30 television markets in the congested areas of the country. This action was to preserve spectrum that might be needed for ATV operation.
In 1988 and 1989 the FCC took its first steps toward formulating an ATV policy by announcing several key tentative decisions. These decisions were: 1) that providing for the use of ATV techniques for terrestrial broadcasting would benefit the public; 2) that the benefits of this technology could be realized most quickly if existing broadcasters were permitted to implement ATV; 3) that any spectrum needed for a broadcast ATV system would be obtained from the spectrum already allocated to broadcast television; 4) that existing service to viewers using NTSC receivers must be continued irrespective of the actual manner in which ATV services were delivered, at least during a transition period, and that this could be accomplished by transmitting ATV signals that could be received directly by NTSC receivers or by simulcasting NTSC and incompatible ATV signals on different channels; 5) that ATV systems that use more than 6 MHz of spectrum would not be authorized for terrestrial broadcast television service; and 6) that policies to be adopted should be sensitive to the benefits of compatibility between equipment associated with the various video delivery media.
After reviewing the progress of the ACATS on evaluation of candidate ATV technologies, and following the introduction of all-digital candidate ATV systems in 1990, in 1991 the FCC made the following additional key decisions: 1) to select a high-definition television (HDTV) system that employed design principles independent of the existing NTSC system (which would allow the greatest amount of service improvement); and 2) to not give further consideration to transmission systems that required additional spectrum to augment the 6 MHz channels used for broadcast television in the United States.
Subsequent to that decision, the ACATS undertook testing of five competing candidate systems, four of which were all-digital systems. At the end of that process, it was clear that the digital systems were superior to the analog candidate system, but there was no clearly superior system among the digital candidates. The ACATS Chairman, former FCC Chairman Richard E. Wiley, then encouraged the proponents of the remaining digital systems to work together to proposed a single system that incorporated the best elements of the four competing digital systems. Responding to this suggestion, the system proponents formed the “Digital HDTV Grand Alliance,” and under the direction of the ACATS, a single best digital system was developed and tested by ACATS. The FCC oversaw this testing process and the subsequent development of the Grand Alliance system through its staff.
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an existing inter-industry standards body that worked closely with ACATS, documented the Grand Alliance system, and also developed an industry consensus around standard-definition video formats to be included in the system. The resulting ATSC Digital Television Standard was adopted by the ATSC members in September 1995. In November 1995 the ACATS itself approved the ATSC Standard and recommended to the FCC that it be mandated for DTV broadcasting in the U.S. Shortly thereafter, the FCC began an extensive public comment process whereby all interested parties were able to give their views on the proposed standard and the associated policies for the introduction of digital television broadcasting.
In the same time frame, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that affected the ATV project. This legislation 1) limited eligibility for a second channel for ATV services to entities who were licensed to operate a television station or had submitted an application to operate a television station and were ultimately awarded a license, by October 24, 1991 and 2) specified that the ATV transition was to end December 31, 2006, except that it could be extended in individual markets where less than 85 percent of the households were able to receive ATV service. Following an extensive process for obtaining public comment and opinion, on December 24, 2006, the FCC issued a decision formally establishing the ATSC system as the U.S. DTV standard.
Four months later, in 1997, the FCC issued two additional decisions that set the stage for the start of the U.S. DTV transition. The first decision established the rules under which broadcasters would apply for DTV licenses, construct their stations, and provide service to the public. The second decision specified the second channels for DTV service that individual stations would use and the technical parameters for operation of DTV service on those channels during the transition. The FCC, recognizing that the transition would be a dynamic process and would need oversight and management throughout its progress, also announced that it would conduct a review of the transition every two years and make adjustments in its policies as necessary to promote a rapid and effective transition.
The United States is now in the final stages of its DTV transition and there have been many challenges that have been faced and overcome in the period since 1997. In recent years the desire of the U.S. Government to recover TV channels 52-69 for new uses has given rise to greater emphasis on completing the transition as rapidly as possible. The FCC has taken a variety of steps to achieve a rapid conclusion to the transition and to ensure that the benefits and services of DTV broadcasting are available to all Americans. The U.S. Congress has also enacted legislation that mandates the end of analog television transmissions on June 12, 2009.
3.1011.2 . National Approach to DTT Policy
Eligibility for DTT licenses
This was one of the fundamental issues addressed by the FCC in its earliest rule making proceedings. The eligibility question was decided by the U.S. Congress by law in 1994. That law established that those eligible for a second channel for DTT service are entities that, as of the date of issuance of the DTT licenses (which turned out to be April 3, 1996), were licensed to operate a TV station or held a construction permit for a new TV station. Other entities were not eligible for an initial DTT allotment, i.e., a second channel. However, new DTT stations (not associated with an analog station) are allowed under the eligibility law and many have now been authorized.
Procedures for awarding DTT licenses and DTT channel assignments
The FCC’s overall plan was to assign to the operator of each existing analog TV station a second 6 MHz channel for DTT broadcasting. As explained in more detail in Section 3.9.3, channel assignments were made with an intention to replicate the existing coverage area of the existing analog channel. Broadcasters would operate both analog and digital stations during a transition period, while consumers acquired DTT receivers or digital-to-analog set-top converter boxes to use with their existing analog receivers. At the end of the transition period, broadcasters would cease analog transmissions. Broadcasters were not required to accept digital licenses and construct digital stations, but any station that did not construct a digital station would no longer be able to transmit any television service at the end of the transition.
Terms and conditions for DTT licenses
• Linked to analog TV license, or separate?
Because this was viewed as a technological transition, and not an entirely new service, DTT licenses were linked to the existing analog license. Broadcasters did not have to apply for the right to a channel, but they did have to apply for a construction permit and then for a formal license after they got their DTT stations built and operating.
• Duration of license, eligibility for renewal
The existing license terms were not affected, except that at the end of the transition the broadcaster would have to switch to digital transmission. In the U.S., TV station license terms are generally for eight years, and are generally renewed for additional eight-year terms, unless a broadcaster has engaged in certain kinds of egregious violations of its license terms. The duration of licenses and eligibility for renewal are not affected by the transition to DTT.
• Scope of permitted terrestrial DTT services
After very careful consideration and review in the FCC’s public rule making processes, the Commission afforded broadcasters great flexibility in the use of their DTT channels.
• Public interest obligations
While there has been an ongoing debate about whether the use of additional spectrum and the great flexibility of DTT services warranted additional public interest obligations upon terrestrial broadcasters, neither the FCC nor Congress has imposed any special or additional public interest obligations on broadcasters. Broadcasters do have important public interest obligations, but these are the same as those that have applied with analog broadcasting.
• Minimum service requirements, hours of operation
Broadcasters were required at least to match the hours of operation of their existing analog station. For example, if the analog station operated 24 hours/day, then the digital station would also be required to operate 24 hours/day.
• Degree of flexibility afforded to DTT broadcasters
Broadcasters were given almost unlimited flexibility in the services that could be offered over their 6 MHz digital channel. They were required to offer one free-to-air video program service with resolution equivalent to their existing analog service. Beyond this, they could offer whatever other services they chose on the digital channel.
• Requirements for high-definition or other types of services?
The FCC did not impose any requirement that broadcasters offer HDTV, and there is no legal requirement for U.S. broadcasters to offer HDTV. However, the U.S. Congress clearly expected broadcasters to offer HDTV, and most broadcasters made crystal clear that they fully intended to offer HDTV whether or not it was formally required. HDTV was the initial focal point of the U.S. transition to DTT broadcasting, and it has remained the centerpiece application throughout the U.S. deployment.
• Pay services and spectrum use fees
Pay services were explicitly permitted by the FCC, once a single, free, standard-definition program had been provided. If broadcasters do use their DTT channel to offer services for which a subscription fee or charge is required in order to receive service, they are required to pay the U.S. government a spectrum use fee in the amount of 5% of gross revenues from any such service.
• Requirements to carry analog TV programming on digital channels
The FCC initially adopted “simulcast” rules that were intended to ensure that there was no programming uniquely available on the analog channel that would create a barrier to the cessation of analog broadcasting at the end of the transition. As a result of its second periodic review of the DTT transition, the FCC decided that these rules were unnecessary for a successful transition, and they were rescinded.
Transition plans and timetables
The basic transition plan followed in the U.S. was to require stations affiliated with the four largest TV networks in the 30 largest cities to implement DTT first, while allowing more time for stations in smaller cities to make the transition. In addition, public TV stations were given an extra year beyond the deadline that applied to commercial stations. The FCC’s initial plan applied to approximately 1,600 commercial and non-commercial (public) stations. Transition planning for low-power TV stations and for translators was deferred for several years, but has now been completed. Low power TV stations generally will be allowed to transition to DTV operation on their existing channels. In addition, if they so desire and a channel is available, low power stations may request a “companion channel” for DTV operation during the transition. The FCC further stated that it would establish a deadline at the end of the transition for low power stations that would be after the end of the transition for full service stations.
• Rationale and timetable for making DTT channel allotments and assignments
As explained more fully in Section 3.9.3, each station was given a new assignment for its DTT broadcast channel, along with an antenna height, antenna pattern and maximum radiated power level, in an effort to replicate the station’s analog coverage area. Assignments for all 1,600 stations were made shortly after the FCC formally adopted the ATSC Standard and approximately 18 months before the launch of commercial DTT service.
• Construction deadlines for stations.
At the request of the FCC, 28 stations in the ten largest cities volunteered to launch DTT service in November 1998, six months ahead of the deadline established by the FCC. Six months later (May 1999) all stations in the top 10 markets that were affiliated with the four largest broadcast networks were required to provide service, and in another six months (November 1999) this requirement was extended to the affiliates of the four largest networks in all of the 30 largest cities. All commercial broadcasters were required to be on the air by May 2002 and all non-commercial broadcasters by May 2003. Broadcasters who could not meet these deadlines were allowed to apply for a six-month extension and in some cases a second six-month extension under certain circumstances.
• Goals and/or deadlines for cessation of analog TV broadcasts and recapture and reuse of spectrum
The U.S. Congress and the FCC were determined to conclude the transition to DTT broadcasting as rapidly as possible for a variety of reasons, most notably to recapture 108 MHz of invaluable nationwide spectrum that will be made available once analog TV transmissions cease. Broadcasters also wanted to make the conversion as rapidly as possible in order to eliminate the expense of operating two TV stations in parallel.
In 1996 the U.S. Congress passed a law affirming the FCC’s decision to assign second 6 MHz channels to existing broadcasters for the conversion to DTT. This law required that analog broadcasts cease and that one channel be returned by December 31, 2006, but only in those markets where at least 85% of the population could receive DTT service. (The 12/31/06 deadline derived from efforts in the Congress to present a balanced budget that relied on billions of dollars of revenue from the auction of recaptured TV spectrum. The 85% exception was added to ensure that Congressional efforts to balance the national budget in 1997 did not disenfranchise TV viewers in 2006 in markets where DTT service was not receivable by most of the population.) In early 2006, legislation was enacted by the U.S. Congress requiring broadcasters to terminate their analog transmissions by February 17, 2009. This legislation included provision of up to $1.5 billion to subsidize the purchase by television viewers of digital-to-analog set-top converters that could be used to view DTT signals on existing analog television receivers. Each television household would be permitted to apply for up to two $40 coupons that could be used to purchase such converters, with only one coupon allowed per converter. This coupon program was implemented in early 2008, and by early 2009 more than 20 million coupons had been redeemed to purchase set-top converters. In order to give consumers more time to prepare for the cessation of analog broadcasts, in early 2009 the U.S. Congress extended the analog cut-off date to June 12, 2009.
Expediting the DTT transition
As noted above, the U.S. Congress and the FCC have been determined to conclude the transition to DTT broadcasting as rapidly as possible. In 2002, FCC Chairman Michael Powell established a DTT Task Force within the FCC and announced a plan (the “Powell Plan”) for accelerating the DTT transition, urging various segments of the TV industry to take specific actions on a voluntary basis. In addition to the measures described below, the Powell Plan called upon various industry segments to educate consumers and to promote digital television. The broadcast, cable and consumer electronics industry responded positively to this request with various programs.
• Engendering production of value-added programming
Under the Powell plan, terrestrial broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, and programmers HBO and Showtime were asked to provide “value-added” DTT programming during at least 50% of prime-time. Value-added programming could be HD, multicasting, interactive, etc. Most of these entities agreed to meet this challenge. Indeed, many were already in compliance.
• Engendering program distribution
Affiliates of the top four networks in the largest 100 cities were encouraged to pass through network DTT signals without degradation (e.g., transmit an HD signal if that’s what the network provides) by January 2003. 89% of responding stations indicated they would meet this goal.
• Requirements for carriage of terrestrial broadcasts over other transmission media, e.g., cable, satellite and MMDS
Cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators were asked to carry up to five broadcast or other digital services that are providing “value-added” service during at least 50% of prime-time viewing hours. DBS providers and the ten largest multiple-system cable TV operators agreed.
• Engendering distribution of consumer equipment, including requirements for DTT receivers and other consumer electronics products, and requirement for all-format decoding
The FCC considered a requirement that all DTT receivers be able to receive and decode all possible formats that a broadcaster might send, but did not adopt any such requirement, in part, because the U.S. DTT industry adopted this practice on a voluntary basis. The ATSC and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) adopted a certification program whereby consumers could be assured that any ATSC receiver with a DTV logo on it would be able to deliver a viewable picture for any of ATSC video formats that a broadcaster might choose to transmit. All-format decoding is essential to permit the introduction of HDTV – later, if not initially. Failure to provide all-format decoding led to a terribly inefficient requirement in Australia to send two digital signals – one for HDTV and another for SDTV. Similarly, in most of the European countries that have already launched DTT service, lack of all-format decoding will make it impossible to introduce HDTV via terrestrial broadcast without replacing all of the existing receivers or allocating additional spectrum.
• Requirements for reception and decoding capability in all receivers
Under the Powell Plan, receiver manufacturers were asked voluntarily to include DTT reception and decoding capability in all receivers over 13 inches in diameter after a phase-in period. When this was not accomplished voluntarily, the FCC adopted regulations that phased in this requirement for the largest TV sets first, starting in 2004, and for all sets over 13 inches by July 2007. In November 2005 the FCC amended its rules to advance the date for the completion of the phase-in period to March 1, 2007, and to apply the requirement to all receivers regardless of screen size. Thus, as of March 1, 2007 every television set sold in the U.S. was required to contain ATSC DTT reception and decoding capabilities. The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association reported that more than 32 million ATSC DTT receivers were sold in the U.S. alone during 2008, and it predicted that between 30 and 35 million would be sold each year thereafter, with a cumulative total of over 100 million ATSC receivers sold in the U.S. alone by 2009.
• Potential performance requirements for receivers
While there are no government requirements for DTT receiver performance, on a voluntary basis (and upon the recommendation of the FCC) the ATSC adopted a recommended practice giving performance parameter guidelines for DTT receivers.
Compatibility with other transmission media, e.g., cable, satellite and MMDS
The cable and consumer electronics industries have adopted requirements to ensure plug-and-play compatibility that would allow one-way HDTV and other cable services to be received directly on consumer receivers, without the need for a separate set-top box. The FCC codified these requirements into its rules, including a provision that all so-called “cable-ready sets” also include ATSC DTT tuning and decoding capabilities. These industries are now working on extending this agreement to two-way interactive services.
Protecting broadcast television content from unauthorized redistribution
The ATSC has incorporated a broadcast content redistribution control descriptor (commonly known as the “broadcast flag”) into its standard. The broadcast flag is designed to prevent the widespread indiscriminate redistribution of high value broadcast content, i.e., programming, over the Internet. The FCC also established compliance and robustness rules for devices with ATSC demodulators to ensure that they respond to and give effect to the ATSC flag. Under the rules adopted by the FCC, a compliant device would not pass content to another device unless that device is also a compliant device. Compliance would be verified by communications between the two devices. These FCC rules have been overturned by the U.S. Courts as being beyond the FCC’s authority, but the U.S. Congress is considering new legislation to achieve these objectives for the protection of broadcast content.
3.1011.3 . Spectrum Planning for DTT
The radio spectrum is an important and highly valuable resource that must be managed to meet the needs of an increasing variety of new services. In the United States, the radio spectrum must now be managed to accommodate new services as well as provide for spectrum needs of existing services. Careful attention to spectrum planning is therefore essential in the DTT implementation process to ensure both that broadcasters are provided channels that will enable them to reach their viewers and that any spectrum that is not needed for television service can be made available for new uses. The DTT channel planning in the United States sought to optimize both of these considerations.
Channel Planning Task
The plan for implementation of DTT in the U.S. was to replace the existing analog TV transmission technology with the new DTT transmission technology. Because both viewers and stations have value in analog equipment and there is a need to provide time for them to acquire DTT equipment, a transition plan was developed whereby broadcasters would operate both analog and DTT facilities for a period of time. Under this plan, it was necessary to provide broadcasters a second channel for DTT operation during the transition. At the end of the transition period, now established as June 12, 2009, analog operations will cease and one of each broadcaster’s two channels will be recovered. The FCC decided early in the planning process that no additional spectrum would be provided for DTT operation, so the DTT channels would have to occupy the same range of channels as the analog channels, i.e., existing TV channels 2-69. The FCC further ruled that service with the DTT transmission system would have to occupy the same 6 MHz bandwidth as analog TV channels. This limited candidate technologies for the U.S. DTT transmission system to the same 6 MHz of bandwidth that has traditionally been used for TV service in the United States. The principal task then in the DTT spectrum planning effort was to provide all of the approximately 1,600 existing U.S. TV stations with second channels for DTT operation and to fit those channels into the existing TV spectrum along with the analog channels already there.
Channel Planning Technical Factors
One of the fundamental considerations that must be addressed in developing any plan for occupancy of spectrum by television stations is interference, and more specifically the need to avoid interference between stations. Simultaneous operation of television stations on the same or adjacent frequencies in the same geographic area can interfere with reception of each other’s signal with results that are disruptive to the stations’ operations. If the signals of two stations are both present at a receiver at relatively strong levels, the receiver will not be able to distinguish between them and its output will be either degraded or unintelligible. Spectrum planning is thus constrained by interference that can occur between stations. In general, interference will occur if the ratio of a desired signal to an undesired signal (D/U ratio) is below a certain level. Since the strength of radio signals decreases with distance, the closer stations are to each other the greater the likelihood of interference between them. Increasing the number of stations in an area generally results in closer spacing of their locations and an increase in the potential for interference. Interference can be avoided or minimized by moving stations apart, assigning nearby stations to different frequencies perhaps several channels away, and designing receivers to resist interference. Interference can also be minimized by selecting signal modulation methods that are: 1) resistant to receiving interference (have a lower D/U threshold for interference to occur) and 2) benign with respect to causing interference (have a higher D/U threshold for interference to occur).
The performance of the DTT transmission system is an important factor in determining how close stations may operate to each other without causing interference. If a system is more robust with respect to tolerating interfering signals and more benign with respect to causing interference, it will be possible to locate DTT stations closer together and thereby make more efficient use of the spectrum. Essentially, a more robust and benign system will allow more DTT stations to occupy the same spectrum space and to provide the opportunity to recover more spectrum for new uses.
Initial channel planning studies (pre-system selection) by the FCC’s engineering staff showed that in order to provide a second channel for existing TV stations it would be necessary to locate those channels on channels left vacant due to the “UHF taboos” restrictions. These restrictions require that channels that are plus or minus 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, and 15 channels away from the channel used by an operating UHF analog station remain vacant in the areas around that station to avoid interference resulting from intermodulation, IF beat, and image products. These are receiver performance aspects that both the FCC and system proponents recognized could be overcome with receiver designs that are improved over those that have been historically used for reception in the “analog only” environment.
Policy Objectives
The FCC’s DTT plan addressed policy objectives in four major areas: 1) eligibility/accommodation, 2) DTT service areas, 3) spectrum for DTT operation, and 4) interference. Eligibility and accommodation address who should be allowed to have a second channel and how many of the eligible stations actually can be provided a second channel. The eligibility question was decided by the U.S. Congress by statute in 1994. This statute declared that those eligible for a second channel for DTT service are entities that, as of the date of issuance of the DTT licenses (which turned out to be April 3, 1996), were licensed to operate a TV station or held a construction permit for a new TV station. The FCC decided, based on its research work in developing DTT channels, that with the ATSC DTV transmission system it would be able to accommodate all of the 1,605 eligible stations in the continental United States with a channel for DTT service. The FCC also recognized that even using the ATSC DTV system it would be necessary for some stations to accept some interference to their DTT and analog operations in order to achieve full accommodation.
The second objective dealt with the service areas that DTT stations would have during the transition. Two basic approaches were considered: 1) to provide channels that would allow all stations to serve the largest area possible within the allowed station facilities parameters; or 2) to allow stations to replicate their existing service areas. (The service areas of existing analog TV stations vary in size substantially.) Based on the television industry’s recommendation, the FCC adopted an approach that provides for DTT stations to replicate the service area of their associated analog station. Stations were also allowed to apply to increase the size of the DTT service area after the initial channels were identified, if the requested increase would not result in new interference to other stations. The FCC further provided for DTT stations to operate with at least 50 kW of effective radiated power, thereby increasing the minimum service areas of a number of stations. The maximum effective radiated power allowed DTT operations was also established at 1,000 kW (1MW).
In the area of spectrum for DTT operation, the spectrum-efficient qualities of the ATSC DTV transmission system allowed the FCC to plan for location of all DTT stations in a core TV spectrum of channels 2-51 after the transition. The FCC will therefore be able to reclaim TV channels 52-69 (108 megahertz of spectrum, or 27% of the spectrum currently used for TV service) for new services. In fact, the FCC has already reallocated 84 megahertz of this spectrum to new commercial services and the remaining 24 megahertz to public safety operations.
Finally, the FCC considered the question of how to manage interference between stations during the transition. Given that it would be necessary to allow some additional interference to occur during the transition, especially in the congested areas of the country, the question was how to apportion that interference among DTT and analog stations. For example, it would be possible to minimize interference to analog stations so that viewers would not lose existing service during the transition, with more interference between DTT stations, or to minimize interference to DTT stations so that after the transition fewer stations would desire to change channels to reduce interference. The FCC decided to adopt a neutral approach that favored neither DTT nor analog service with respect to interference. This approach sought to minimize interference to all stations, both analog and DTT. Again, the spectrum efficient qualities of the ATSC DTV transmission system made it possible to minimize interference to all stations during the transition.
Channel Planning Parameters
In the U.S. DTT channel planning effort, the FCC performed allotment optimization and interference analysis using the measured performance characteristics of the ATSC DTV system, a set of system-independent technical planning factors recommended by the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (an industry advisory committee to the FCC that included members of the broadcast, cable, broadcast equipment, consumer electronics, and computer industries), and the technical operating facilities of existing analog TV stations. The ATSC DTV system performance characteristics used include: 1) the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio defining the outer limit of service, 2) co-channel D/U interference ratios for DTT-to-DTT, DTT-to-analog, and analog-to-DTT signals, 3) the upper and lower adjacent channel D/U interference ratios for these same signal relationships, and 4) taboo D/U interference ratios for DTT-to-analog on channels +/-2, +/-3, +/-4, +7, +8, +14, and +15 from a desired channel.[19] The system-independent technical planning factors describe DTT characteristic propagation models and service area planning factors.[20] The technical operating facilities of existing analog TV stations include channel number, geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), antenna height above average terrain, antenna pattern, and maximum effective radiated power (ERP)).[21]
The FCC also adopted a specification for mandatory attenuation of out-of-band emissions from DTT stations. This specification requires that: 1) in the first 500 kHz from the authorized channel (band) edge, transmitter emissions must be attenuated no less than 47 dB below the average transmitted power, 2) more than 6 MHz from the channel edge, emissions must be attenuated no less than 110 dB below the average transmitted power, and 3) at any frequency between 0.5 and 6 MHz from the channel edge, emissions must be attenuated no less than the value determined by the following formula:[22]
Attenuation in dB = -11.5(∆f +3.6); where ∆f = frequency difference in MHz from the edge of the channel.
Algorithms and software tools for channel planning
The development of DTT channel allotments is a complex engineering and computational task. To handle that task, the FCC developed an operations research methodology and implementing computer software for optimizing the allotment of DTT channels. The operations research methodology and computer software use an optimization technique known as “simulated annealing.”[23] This technique employs a system of penalties that attach to conditions that fall short of specified objectives. The simulated annealing method seeks to minimize the sum of these penalties, or “costs,” to achieve an optimum condition.
The development process generated a number of candidate DTT Table of Allotments using the simulated annealing technique and software.[24] The different Tables reflected the effects of alternative allotment policy decisions that were under consideration as well as new technical information affecting the values of the various penalty functions. The approach used for specifying the operating facilities of DTT stations assumed the same transmitter location and antenna height as their associated analog stations. ERP levels and antenna patterns were then calculated and assigned to allow DTT stations to replicate the same service areas as their analog stations.
Once a candidate DTT Table of Allotments was defined, the channel allotments identified on that Table were evaluated for their service area coverage. These coverage areas analyses involved both service area predictions and interference effects. A second computer model was developed that permitted the rapid computation and analysis of service area coverage provided by the existing analog stations and candidate DTT stations, both on an overall cumulative basis and for individual stations. Interference was evaluated using the Longley-Rice point-to-point radio propagation prediction model.[25] The service area of an individual analog station was defined as the area within that station's Grade B service contour, reduced by any interference; and was computed based upon the station’s actual transmitter location, power, and antenna height.[26] The service area of a DTT station is defined as the area contained within the station's noise-limited service contour, reduced by the interference within that contour. As indicated above, DTT coverage calculations used locations and antenna heights identical to those of the replicated companion analog station and power generally sufficient to achieve noise-limited coverage equal to the companion station's Grade B coverage.
The FCC also found that there were instances where the allotment of channels in specific local situations could best be resolved on a case-by-case basis. The allotment software therefore was designed to allow specific local designs to be merged into complete Tables and, where necessary, accept changes in other allotments to preserve a balance of the specified policy considerations. This capability allowed the FCC to incorporate, where feasible, allotment/pairing agreements reached by broadcasters in negotiated settlements. In evaluating the feasibility of local agreements, the FCC considered whether incorporation of given agreements would still allow it to meet its specified policy goals.
U.S. DTT Table of Allotments
Using the above parameters, station data, and parameters, the FCC staff worked with the U.S. broadcast television industry and others to develop a final DTT Table of Allotments that incorporated the FCC’s policy decisions. In a number of cases this Table included the allotment requests of individual licensees.
The final DTT Table met the FCC’s primary objective of full accommodation of all eligible broadcasters. The Table provided 1605 new DTT allotments in almost 900 communities in the continental U.S.[27] The DTT Table also fulfilled the FCC’s goals of service replication/maximization. In general, each existing broadcaster was provided with a DTT allotment that is capable of providing digital TV coverage of a geographic area that is comparable to its existing analog coverage. During the transition period, over 50% of all existing broadcasters received a DTT allotment that allows them to fully replicate their existing service area and more than 93% received an allotment that allows them to replicate at least 95% of their existing service area. The DTT Table also met the FCC’s objective of minimizing new interference to analog service. For example, 98 to 99% of all analog stations receive less than 10% new interference (in terms of both area and population served) from DTT operations.
The DTT Table further met the FCC’s objectives for efficient use of the spectrum. Analysis of the final Table indicated that it will be possible to provide all eligible broadcasters with access to a suitable DTT frequency within the spectrum area ultimately designated for digital TV, i.e., existing TV channels either 7-51 or 2-46. The DTT Table contained only 68 instances where both the analog and digital channels are outside of channels 7-51, and 89 instances where both channels are outside of channels 2-46.[28] Even in these cases, however, suitable channels within the core area will become available when analog operations cease and channels are recovered from other stations.
3.1011.4 . National Experience and Approach to DTT Planning and Implementation
As detailed in Section 3.9.1, in 1987 the U.S. government began the process of developing an advanced television standard in order to ensure that free over-the-air broadcasters had a means to improve the technical quality of their service, and to provide new, innovative services, in order to compete effectively with programming delivered by competing cable and satellite services. The U.S. experience is a remarkable example of a 20-year-long cooperative endeavor by government and industry to develop and deploy innovative new technology that provides quantum improvements in the quality and quantity of television services and revolutionary new capabilities for information services, including interactive services that can address important social goals.
As detailed in Section 3.9.2, the government made important guiding policy decisions at key points in this 20-year process, but relied on the private sector for billions of dollars of investment in research and development that led to technical recommendations for a DTT standard based on an open process involving more than one thousand industry volunteers. HDTV was the initial focus of this effort, and it remains the centerpiece application of DTT in the U.S. But in the course of this endeavor, an all-digital system was developed, which provides revolutionary capabilities that go far beyond HDTV.
Once the key policy decisions were made by the FCC, and once the DTT standard was developed under the auspices of the FCC’s Advisory Committee (ACATS), documented by the ATSC and then formally adopted by the FCC, commercial DTT broadcasts began in November 1998. Under the FCC’s transition plan, DTT broadcasting was launched first by the major networks in the largest cities, and later in the smaller cities, with all stations required to be on the air by May 2003. Since 1998 the costs of broadcast transmission equipment have fallen considerably, making the transition more affordable for smaller stations. At the same time, the amount of HDTV and other value-added DTT programming has increased dramatically, while the prices of digital television sets and set-top boxes have dropped precipitously, making HDTV and other DTT applications much more affordable for consumers.
Implementation Progress
Now, more than ten years since the service was launched in ten U.S. cities, the transition to DTT broadcasting is nearing completion More than1,700 DTV stations are on the air in 212 metropolitan areas, reaching virtually all U.S. television households with at least one digital signal. More than 92% of households have access to at least five digital signals, and more than 84% have access to at least eight. In the largest U.S. cities, as many as 28 digital stations are on the air.
HDTV programming is widely available, not only via DTT broadcasts, but over cable and satellite systems as well. The widespread availability of HDTV programming by cable and satellite is important, because more than 80% of TV households subscribe to such services, at least for their main television. DTT broadcasting is also very important, because many of the multiple sets in cable and satellite households are not connected to these services. Indeed, approximately one-third of TV sets in the U.S. still rely on free over-the-air reception. But the wide and growing availability of HDTV programming via cable and satellite services has helped to create a critical mass of programming that has made HDTV receivers attractive to consumers.
Manufacturers throughout the world have responded to this demand by developing and marketing approximately 900 different models of HDTV and other ATSC DTT consumer products, using a wide variety of new display technologies. Competition is frenzied, with prices continuing to fall rapidly and sales skyrocketing. Since late 1998 when the service was launched, more than 80 million units of DTT consumer products worth more than $80 billion have been sold in the U.S. alone. Moreover, annual sales of between 30-35 million units are projected for the foreseeable future.
Standard-definition (SDTV) integrated 27” ATSC receivers are now available for as little as US$180, and integrated 27” HDTV receivers for as little as US$270. Integrated 13” ATSC receivers are now available for as little as $90. Indeed, prices for HDTVs have fallen so rapidly that very few SDTVs are available, and only for small screen sizes. For example, a 19” integrated ATSC HDTV (1080i) receiver with a flat-panel LCD screen and a built-in DVD player is available for as little as $199! The prices for HDTVs in the U.S. are already lower than the prices of SDTVs in Europe or of analog color televisions in virtually every country in Latin America. Indeed, by 2010 it is expected that virtually all TV sets sold in the U.S. will be HDTVs, because they will cost no more than SDTVs, even at the smallest screen sizes.
New Services
In addition to HDTV, broadcasters in the U.S. are using DTT to provide innovative packages of new services. Some broadcasters are providing multiple simultaneous programs of SDTV. This is especially important for public broadcasters in achieving their goals to support public education, providing multiple education programs instead of just one program at one time. Many commercial broadcasters are now offering a main program in HDTV, plus another SDTV program showing 24-hour news or weather, and an SDTV 24-hour weather radar map. As an example, WETA, the public broadcaster in Washington, DC, is providing one HDTV and three SDTV programs simultaneously 24 hours per day, seven days per week. This demonstrates the tremendous capacity and flexibility of the ATSC system.
Broadcasters are also beginning to offer various data services using the ATSC family of standards, including interactive information services. (The worldwide leaders in the provision of such services are broadcasters in South Korea, who are offering commercial interactive services using the ATSC Advanced Common Application Platform (ACAP) Standard. Televisa in Mexico and FITec (a Brazilian research institution) have also demonstrated interactive information services using the ATSC ACAP Standard.)
Systems that provide high-quality services to mobile and handheld receivers using the ATSC Standard have now been developed, demonstrated and tested. With these systems, broadcasters can provide mobile and handheld services in the same 6 MHz channel used to provide DTV services to fixed and portable receivers. These capabilities have been embodied in the ATSC Mobile DTV Standard, which has been adopted as a candidate standard and is expected to win final approval as a formal ATSC standard in 3Q09. U.S. broadcasters have announced plans to implement commercial ATSC mobile services that will reach 30% of U.S. households by the end of 2009.
End of the DTT Transition
As explained in Sections 3.9.1 and 3.9.2, the U.S. government will complete the transition to DTT broadcasting in June 2009, in order to free up extremely valuable nationwide spectrum that can be used to promote public safety and national security, and to support new wireless services that will be engines of economic growth for decades to come. To support its decision to end analog television transmissions, the U.S. Congress urged the development of an inexpensive digital-to-analog set-top converter box to permit consumers to view DTT signals on their existing analog TV sets. The Congress also adopted a coupon program under which each U.S. household could apply for up to two coupons worth $40 each for such a converter box. Now there are over 100 models of such converter boxes on the market, with prices ranging from $40 - $60, such that the net cost of these converters ranges from $0 to $20, after redeeming the coupon. As of April 2009, more than 27 million of these converters had been sold, with a total of between 30 – 40 million expected to be sold by the end of 2009. This is important beyond the United States, because these huge volumes ensure that such converter boxes will be available in other countries that adopt the ATSC Standard at the lowest possible prices. These converters will allow people to receive free crystal clear images and pure digital sound on their existing analog televisions, without the need to invest in a new television set.
Economies of Scale and Social Inclusion
As policy makers in the U.S. and throughout the Americas have stated, the availability of inexpensive DTV receivers and set-top boxes that can be used to deliver innovative digital services to existing analog TVs is a crucial requirement for ending the transition in the U.S. and for ensuring that all socio-economic classes throughout the Americas enjoy the benefits of digital broadcasting services. The most important factors in driving down the costs and prices of such consumer products are not how much processing or how much memory is included, but rather how many tens of millions of units can be sold. By adopting the ATSC Standard, countries throughout the Americas can take advantage of the tremendous economies of scale already seen in the U.S., ensuring the lowest possible prices for integrated receivers and set-top converters in their countries and thereby ensuring a rapid and successful transition to digital television, while bringing innovative information services to all their citizens, including millions who may never own a personal computer.
Continued Receiver Improvements
Early experience in some U.S. cities, as well as tests conducted in Brazil in 1999-2000, demonstrated certain inadequacies in the ability of the first ATSC receivers to handle multiple reflected signals (“multipath impairments”). The early receivers were first- and second-generation receivers, and now sixth-generation receivers have been deployed in commercial products. These latest receivers have completely overcome the inadequacies in those early receivers. Indeed, recent tests in the U.S., Canada and Brazil have demonstrated the remarkable improvements in ATSC receivers since 1999.
Conclusion
The implementation of digital television service based on the ATSC family of standards is moving ahead dramatically in the U.S. (and in Canada, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and South Korea as well). HDTV is firmly entrenched, and is replacing analog color television at a rapid pace. SDTV multicasting and information services are also important and are being expanded, as broadcasters learn to take full advantage of the rich possibilities of DTT broadcasting using the ATSC family of standards. A cornucopia of dazzling new consumer products is available, at rapidly falling prices that make DTT receivers affordable for all socio-economic classes. Further extensions and new additions to the ATSC family of standards are imminent, including mobile and hand-held applications. Other extensions are being developed, such as non-real-time delivery of content.
The U.S. is now in the final stages of its transition to digital television broadcasting, with a hard date set for the end of analog transmissions. Ending analog transmissions will mark the end of the transition to DTT broadcasting, which will permit the recovery of extremely valuable spectrum that will support new wireless services that will be engines of economic growth for decades to come.
Attachments – U.S. Government Policy Decisions
1. Fourth Report and Order, FCC MM Docket No. 87-268, December 24, 1996 (CCP.II/doc.333). Adoption of the ATSC DTV Standard for digital terrestrial broadcasting in the U.S.
2. Fifth Report and Order, FCC MM Docket No. 87-268, April 3, 1997 (CCP.II-345). Regulatory policies governing the implementation of DTT broadcasting in the U.S.
3. Sixth Report and Order, FCC MM Docket No. 87-268, April 3, 1997 (CCP.II-346). Table of DTT allotments, policies and rules for assigning DTT channels, and plans for spectrum recovery.
4. Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration of the Sixth Report and Order, FCC MM Docket No. 87-268, February 17, 1998 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX) (document and associated appendix submitted for the June 2006 meeting). Reconsideration of policies and rules governing DTT allotments, DTT channel assignments and plans for spectrum recovery.
5. Second Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration of the Fifth and Sixth Report and Orders. FCC MM Docket No. 87-268, November 24, 1998 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX) (submitted for the June 2006 meeting). Further reconsideration of DTT policies and rules, including the final initial table of DTT allotments.
6. Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television—Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, FCC MM Docket No. 00-39, January 18, 2001 (CCP.II/doc.344/01). FCC’s First Periodic Review, resolving numerous issues, including channel election timetables, service area replication, and reaffirming the exclusive use of the ATSC/VSB transmission system.
7. FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s Proposal for Voluntary Industry Actions to Speed the Digital Television Transition, April 4, 2002 (CCP.II/doc.467/02)
8. Second Report and Order and Second Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC MM Docket No. 00-39, August 8, 2002 (CCP.II/doc.XXX/02) (submitted at 10/03 meeting). FCC order phasing in the requirement for new broadcast television equipment to include the capability to receive ATSC DTT signals.
9. Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Compatibility Between Cable Systems and Consumer Electronics Equipment, FCC PP Docket No. 00-67, September 10, 2003 (CCP.II/doc.XXX/03) (submitted for July 2004 meeting). Establishes rules for compatibility between digital cable service and DTT receivers.
10. Digital Broadcast Content Protection, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC MB Docket No. 02-230, November 4, 2003 (CCP.II/doc.XXX/03) (submitted for December 2004 meeting). Establishes a redistribution content control system for digital broadcast television.
11. Children’s Television Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC MM Docket No. 00-167, September 9, 2004 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.614/04). Resolves issues regarding the obligation of digital television broadcaster to serve children in their audiences.
12. Second Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion To Digital Television, Report and Order, August 4, 2004, MB Docket No. 03-15 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX/04 (submitted for December 2004 meeting)). Resolves several issues of importance to the rapid conversion from analog to digital television broadcasting.
13. Rules for Digital Low Power Television, Television Translator, and Television Booster Stations, Report and Order, FCC MB Docket No. 03-185, September 9, 2004 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX) (submitted for December 2004 meeting). Establishes rules and policies for digital low power television and television translator stations and modifies certain rules applicable to digital Class A television stations.
14. Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals, Second Report and Order and First Order on Reconsideration, FCC CS Docket No. 98-120, February 10, 2005 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX/06) (submitted at June 2006 meeting). Resolves issues regarding the obligations of cable television systems to carry DTT signals.
15. Requirements for Digital Television Receiving Capability, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC ET Docket No. 05-24, June 9, 2005 (CCP.II-RADIO-846)
Adopts modifications to the rules requiring new television receiving devices to be equipped to receive off-air digital television signals, and proposed further modifications.
16. Requirements for Digital Television Receiving Capability, Second Report and Order, FCC ET Docket No. 05-24, November 3, 2005 (CCP.II-RADIO/docXXX/06) (submitted at June 2006 meeting).
Adopts further modifications to the rules requiring new television receiving devices to be equipped to receive off-air digital television signals.
17. Public Law No. 109-171, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Title III – Digital Television Transition and Public Safety (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXX/06) [need document #: submitted at June 2006 meeting].
Sets forth statutory provisions for completing the digital television transition in the U.S., including setting February 17, 2009 as the date for cessation of analog television broadcasts.
18. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 47 C.F.R. 301, Docket Number: 0612242667-7051-01, RIN 0660-AA16, Rules to Implement and Administer a Coupon Program for Digital-to-Analog Converter Boxes, March 9, 2007.
19. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in ET Docket No. 07-91, Third Periodic Review of the Commissions Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television, May 18, 2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1463/07)
20. Second Report and Order in MB Docket No. 03-15, Second Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television, May 3, 2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1464/07)
21. Seventh Report and Order and Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in MB Docket No. 87-268, Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service, August 6, 2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXXX/08, doc.XXXX (Appendix B), doc.XXXX (Appendix G))
22. Third Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in MB Docket No. 98-120, Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals: Amendment to Part 76 of the Commission’s Rules, November 30, 2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXXX/08)
23. Report and Order in MB Docket No. 07-91, Third Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television, December 31, 2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXXX/08, doc.XXXX (Appendix D), doc.XXXX (Appendix F))
24. Report and Order in MB Docket No. 07-148, DTV Consumer Education Initiative, March 3, 2008 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXXX/08)
25. Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration of the Seventh Report and Order and Eighth Report and Order in MB Docket No. 87-268, Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service, March 6, 2008 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.XXXX/08, doc.XXXX (Appendix B))
26. ADDITIONAL REFERENCES TO BE ADDED BASED ON DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED AT THE OTTAWA MEETING.
3.1112. Uruguay
3.1112.1 National Goals
To determine the digital terrestrial technology standard in Uruguay, by Decree No. 262/006 of August 7, 2006, the President of the Republic created the National Open Digital Terrestrial Television Commission, whose purpose was to advise the executive branch regarding all aspects of television digitization and, especially, the technical, legal, and economic consequences of the adoption of existing technical standards.
In that context, on August 27, 2007, Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, President of the Republic, signed Decree No. 315/07, by which Uruguay adopted the DVB-T and DVB-H standards for the implementation of Digital Terrestrial Television.
The decision to adopt these standards was taken after nearly a year of study of the different available standards (ATSC – DVB – ISDB). The following are some of the criteria on which the decision was based (the list is not an exhaustive, nor in order of importance):
– Universalization of open fixed and mobile digital television
– interactivity
– diversity of content and free competition
– broadcast technical quality
– efficient spectrum use
– digital inclusion strategies
– development of national technologies
– experiences in different countries of implementation models, spectrum replanning, and the development of related sectors
– development of the audiovisual sector
– extent of dissemination of the different standards evaluated
– economies of scale and potentially associated markets
3.1112.2 Spectrum Planning for DTT
Uruguay is in the process of developing its spectrum and technical plans. (To be updated.)
3.1112.3 National Experience and Approach no DTT Planning and Implementation
Since the DVB Standard was adopted, trials and different deployments have been conducted, while at the same time all spectrum planning efforts are being made and the corresponding sector regulations adopted. In this section, Uruguay provides information on its experiences of DTT deployment.
First experiences of DTT organization in Uruguay
Work to plan the DTT network has been done since September 2007.
The technical equipment listed below has been available since November 2007.
Transmission, repeater, and decoding equipment broadcast on the same frequency, under the “Single Frequency Network” scheme in the Montevideo area. The emission parameters are described below in the technical table. Since that time, in Montevideo, the State Channel (Channel 5–TNU) has been broadcast in DVB-T, with five interactive service trials.
In November 2007, signal reception trials were also conducted in shopping malls and on a bus of a central Montevideo line. In addition, an interactivity training workshop was held.
To that end, on the same multiplex, a new service was added, “Emplea-T” [Find a Job], adapted to 6 MHz, over which job advertisements from a local daily paper (El País) are published.
In February 2008, an MPEG-2 high-definition signal was aired utilizing the same equipment, simply by transmitting an encoded signal, utilizing HD receivers (whose technical characteristics are provided below for informational purposes).
This signal is on air and makes it possible to alternate between conventional and high definition television broadcasts.
The technical parameters of DVB-T high definition broadcasts in Uruguay:
64 QAM, FEC: ¾, IG: 1/16, carriers: 2K, MPEG-2 stream, 1080i / 25.
DVB-T broadcasts Uruguay
Place: Montevideo
Start date: 09/25/2007
Technical characteristics:
|Content |MPEG-2 MP@ML (SDTV) with 576/25i (720 x 576i 50 fps) format, MPEG-1 L2 sound (stereo) format 4:3 |
|Head-end |3 MPEG-2 MP@ML encoders |
| |1 Multiplexer |
| |1 interactivity server |
|Radiating System 1 |6 vertically stacked antenna panels |
| |3 dB beam width of 60º |
| |Total gain of 20 dBd |
|Radiating System 2 |4 vertically stacked antenna panels |
| |3 dB beam width of 60º |
| |Total gain of 16 dBd |
|Transmitter |DVB-T / DVB-H Transmitter (50 Wrms) |
| |UHF Channel 24 |
|Repeater |DVB-T / DVB-H Repeater (20 Wrms) |
| |UHF Channel 24 |
Transmission parameters utilized:
|Type of reception |DVB-T transmission parameters |
|Static outdoor with fixed directional antenna |16 QAM 2k FFT, FEC 5/6 I.g. 1/8 |
|Indoor with portable antenna |16 QAM 2k FFT, FEC 5/6 I.g. 1/8 |
|Mobile outdoor without spatial diversity antenna |16 QAM 2k FFT, FEC 5/6 I.g. 1/8 |
• First trial in Latin America to demonstrate interactive service transmission in mobile reception
• Public bus installed with a DVB-T + interactivity receiver
• Mobile interactive experience
▪ Menu to launch services
▪ DTT portal: Makes it possible to obtain information on the technology
▪ News ticker: Application that shows the last news hour
▪ Survey (with return channel)
▪ Tele-training (with return channel)
▪ Jobs in Uruguay (with return channel)
DVB-H in Uruguay
Several trial demonstrations of digital terrestrial television broadcasts to handheld terminals (cell phones) have been conducted in the context of service and business model demonstrations, in both Montevideo and Punta del Este.
With participation by the State mobile operator (ANCEL), TNU (Channel 5–State TV channel), and Channel 10 (a private TV channel), broadcasts began in Punta del Este on January 25, 2008.
In this trial, a demokit was used with the product Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution, version 3.2. It incorporates database servers to generate an electronic guide to services, an encapsulator, and four encoders per piece of hardware, so that four channels can be aired live swiftly and simultaneously. This version is novel in that includes support for statistical multiplexing, enabling dynamic optimization of available bandwidth use.
The content transmitted came from:
• TNU (Montevideo Channel 5)
• Punta del Este Channel 7
• C5N – Argentine news channel
• National Television of Chile
Transmission parameters: QPSK IFFT=8K CR=1/2 GI=1/16 FEC=35%
Broadcast channel: UHF Channel 27 on 6 MHz of channel width
The broadcast was made with a Rohde & Schwarz 100 watt transmitter, with two 60º directional panels
Coverage radius: Indoor - 1 km
Outdoor - 3 km
An innovative application in Uruguay: Multicanal
Since 2007, a new digital broadcasting facility of the Multicanal company using the DVB standard has been on air in Montevideo, providing cable TV service. In this facility, international satellite signals are combined with national 12 multiplex DTT programming. Analog signals (broadcast from another site) and digital signals (migrating towards the upper end of the UHF range) coexist.
The characteristics of this new latest generation facility, located in Montevideo, make it unique in the Southern Cone.
The new system is 100% digital and benefits in principle users of Montevideo and the entire metropolitan area. Over US$10 million has been invested in the project, which entails digitization of its UHF television system in Montevideo.
Summary of Multicanal’s technical characteristics
• 12 DVB-T/H 200 watt RMS transmitters
• Omnidirectional radiating system with 12 dB of gain head-end, with encoders and statistical multiplexing in IP format.
• Configuration of parameters for outdoor fixed reception. 8k, 64QAM. 2/3, 1/32.
DVB-T/H hierarchical transmission
At present, SIDSA and TV Channel 10 are conducting a broadcasting hierarchical modulation trial in Montevideo.
From TV Channel 10’s facilities, using technology of the Spanish company SIDSA, three DVB-T services are broadcast on 6 MHz, and a fourth hierarchically modulated service broadcast in DVB-H. The same three programs broadcast in DVB-T are being encapsulated in DVB-H in the fourth service.
3.1213. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
3.1213.1. National Experience and Approach no DTT Planning and Implementation
[Editor’s note: Contents originally in section 5.8]
To select the standard to be adopted for DTT implementation in Venezuela, the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL) developed a digital television project based on studies for implementation of this service, with a view to DTT implementation in Venezuela in the medium term.
(The following section is an update taken from Document 1611. The editors have assumed that Doc. 1611 supersedes the earlier text and accompanying figures.)
RECENT ACTIVITIES IN THE DTT AREA IN VENEZUELA
In Venezuela, in first quarter 2007, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MPPTI) was created, which is tasked with regulating, formulating, overseeing, guiding, planning, coordinating, supervising, and evaluating State policies, strategies, and guidelines for the promotion and development of the telecommunication sector.
To that end, specifically in connection with digital terrestrial TV, the Ministry of Telecommunications has decided to give greater impetus to the project to implement DTT and digital radio in Venezuela, establishing the general and specific lines of the work plan that will lead to a decision to adopt the digital TV standard to be implemented in Venezuela.
A working group has also been formed, tasked with analysis and evaluation of the different standards worldwide, and with planning the public perception tests and technical field tests to complement the study to be conducted, that will assist in preparing a detailed technical and socioeconomic report on the outcomes of the different tests, for subsequent presentation to the Minister for his evaluation.
With regard to the testing stage, two phases were established:
Phase 1: “Perception tests,” conducted at five (5) sites (commercial and institutional) in the Caracas metropolitan area, where stands were set up, with two 42” plasma TV screens, one receiving digital signal and the other analog signal, and a 21” analog TV set receiving digital signal through a set top box, so that the public could compare and observe the differences between analog and digital technology, and the advantages of DTT, and to show how interactive applications are deployed. See Figure 1
On-site surveys were conducted at the same time to determine the expectations of the public visiting the different sites so as to measure their interest in and awareness of Digital Terrestrial TV technology. See Figure 2.
This phase lasted for three weeks, from June 26, 2007, the opening date of Copa América, held in Venezuela, until July 15, 2007.
|Figure 1: Stand with two 42” plasma screens, one receiving digital | |
|signal, and the other analog signal, and a 21” analog television | |
|receiving digital signal. | |
| |Figure 2: Conducting on-site surveys |
Phase 2: Phase 2 included the field measurements through application of a test protocol that established the method and type of measurements in open and closed environments, using measurement equipment that showed the technical results of the behavior of the European DVB-T and Japanese ISDB-T standards under fixed, mobile, and portable conditions.
This phase was conducted from August to October 2007 with participation by technical personnel of the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL), an agency subordinate to the MPPTI, and by representatives of academia, the broadcasting sector (operators) and the DVB and ISDB standards who, together, helped to ensure that the field measurements were properly made.
A test protocol was developed for the field measurements to be made that enabled the performance of the DVB-T and ISDB-T standards to be measured under the same conditions in the phase comprising the broadcast between the transmitter and the user, without making subjective evaluations of image and sound quality. The measurements include quantitative tests of aspects of the performance of the two standards, at the following stages:
1. Transmitter tests: Conducted at the start and end of the tests essentially to determine stability, out of band emissions, and correspondence between planned and actual parameters.
2. Fixed reception tests: Conducted on a mobile test unit (see Figures 3 and 4) at least one hundred (100) characterized points in Caracas, to determine: reception level (dBm), noise level in the sub-band (dBm), and the modulation error rate (MER), in order to compare them with estimated levels in accordance with predictive propagations methods, and to compare the standards being tested. See Figure 5.
3. Moving vehicle tests: Conducted on a mobile test unit with speeds of up to 120 Km/h, on highways, moving away from and towards the transmitter.
4. Pedestrian reception tests: Of the DVB-H (European) and One Segment (Japanese) standards, along routes with perfect visibility, routes with good visibility, and in highly developed areas.
5. Maximum speed tests: On board a helicopter, along a route equidistant from the transmitter, and along the main radial of the transmitting antenna arrangement.
6. Reception tests under indoor conditions: Measurement of signal levels under indoor reception conditions, with and without people around a typical antenna, and in different areas inside houses, offices, and other premises.
7. Special tests: To determine the performance of a digital channel with a lower adjacent channel and the reverse, the effect of partial obstruction of the signal by moving objects, and the effect of impulsive noise generated by two- and four-speed motors.
|Figure 3: Measurement equipment on the mobile test unit during tests to| |
|compare the DVB-T and ISDB-T standards | |
[pic][pic]
| |Figure 4: Mobile DTT test unit |
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Figure 5: Distribution of the fixed measurement reception points in Caracas
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|Figure 6: Measurement scheme within the mobile test unit in DTT tests |
Translation: Web cam. Computer recording system. Variable attenuator. Splitter. Radio trunking. Vector analyzer, constellation analyzer, VER meter, PROMAX 4C. Agilent/E-4407B spectrum analyzer. DVB-T set top box. ISDB-T set top box. NTSC monitor. Computer recording system. Computer recording system. HDTV monitor. Computer recording system. GPS.
(The following additional material was taken from Document 1612.)
DEVELOPMENT OF A TEST PROTOCOL FOR DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION IN VENEZUELA
In the context of the second phase of the process that will lead to the adoption of a digital TV standard for Venezuela, field measurements were made by implementing a test protocol. For the launch of tests to compare the European and Japanese DTT standards in Venezuela, in developing the test protocol, account was taken of parameters that would enable the behavior of the two to be quantified and compared without the use of subjective tests.
The test protocol was designed to measure the field performance of the two transmitters under similar conditions to the extent that the same feeder and radiating systems were utilized via a switch under a test load. The tests conducted tested performance of the DVB-T and ISDB-T standards under extreme conditions, using similar operating parameters, with the aim of providing coverage in Caracas.
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|Figure 1: Four stages included in the Digital Terrestrial Television System |
The DTT system to be tested comprised four stages (as shown in Figure 1):
a) Transport stage: Covering production of content in digital or analog format, to the process of editing, digitizing, and compressing the original data, to its transmission to the broadcasting station via microwave links or other media.
b) Transmission or broadcast stage: The signal received during the preceding stage is introduced in the digital rack module by means of decoders, sent to power amplifiers, and transmitted via a system of radiating antennas to a specific coverage area.
c) Reception and decoding stage: At the user level, signal is recovered and visualized on the television terminal equipment so that the quality of the signal can be evaluated. At the operator level, this effectively takes place at different points within the coverage area.
d) Return stage: For data transmission from the user to the DTT rack module via a return channel (fixed or mobile telephone line, or other).
The labeled elements shown in Figure 1 are the most important ones included in and forming part of the field tests at both the transmission and the reception stages, so that tests were conducted from the DTT rack module to the video and audio signal transmitted to the television terminal at the reception stage to determine the parameters of interest that would make possible quantification of the performance of the DTT standards being tested.
Basically, the measurements included in the DTT test protocol made it possible to quantify the performance of the Japanese and European standards under real operating conditions. To that end, several stages of measurement were defined in a system of staged timed tests, as is shown in Table 1.
|Field measurements and performance tests of the DTT standards (DVB-T/H and ISDB-T) |
|Of transmitters |In fixed reception |Mobile (DVB-H vs. One Segment) |Domestic site (indoor) |Special tests |
| | |Vehicular |Pedestrian | | |
|Correspondence between |Received field |Route equidistant |In areas with clear |Signal level [dBm] with |Effects of the presence of|
|adjusted power and power|intensity [dBuV/m] |from the transmitter|line of sight (LOS) |no one around the |a digital channel on a |
|output | | |to the transmitter |receiving antenna |lower adjacent analog |
| | | | | |channel |
| |Received signal level | | |Signal level [dBm] with | |
| |[dBm] | | |1 to 3 people around | |
| | | | |receiving antenna | |
| | |Route parallel to a | | |Effects of the presence of|
| | |radial from the | | |a lower adjacent analog |
| | |transmitter | | |signal on a digital |
| | | | | |channel |
|Peak power/average power|BER level | |In spaces with | | |
|ratio | | |almost clear line of| | |
| | | |sight (NLOS) to the | | |
| | | |transmitter | | |
| |Noise level in the | | | | |
| |test band | | | | |
| | | | |Signal level [dBm] with | |
| | | | |1 to 3 people around the| |
| | | | |receiving antenna, at | |
| | | | |different antenna | |
| | | | |heights | |
| |Constellation diagram |Outgoing and/or | | |Signal level with moving |
| | |incoming route along| | |objects |
| | |several radials | | | |
|Emissions outside the | | |In areas of medium | | |
|assigned band (6 MHz) | | |development and in | | |
| | | |highly developed | | |
| | | |areas | | |
| |Minimum useful signal | | | |Impulsive noise effects |
| |level [dBm] | | | | |
| | | | | |Mobile reception at high |
| | | | | |speed (helicopter) |
|Made at the start and |Made on a mobile |Made in both |Made in different |Made at three points in |Made at a characterized |
|end of tests |testing unit |directions of the |segments at a speed |the city, and |point, with line of sight |
| | |route, at different |below 4 Km/h |considering a special |to the transmitter |
| | |speeds (≤ 120 Km/h)| |case | |
|Table 1: Measurement stages comprising the test protocol |
1.- INTRODUCCIÓN[29]
La introducción de la televisión digital implica inversiones significativas por parte de los operadores para el desarrollo de infraestructura nueva y adecuación de ambientes para la colocación de los equipos necesarios para la difusión del contenido. La rápidez con que se logre el despliegue de la red dependerá en gran medida de la disponibilidad de capital que posean los operadores, el cual obviamente será un recurso limitado de acuerdo a cada operador, por lo tanto, la falta de recursos impactará directamente en el tiempo en que se pueda lograr la transición de Analógico a Digital. Una alternativa a lo mencionado anteriormente es la compartición de infraestructura y uso de equipos comunes, lo cual genera un ahorro económico al reducir los costos de implementación (instalación de equipos), operación y mantenimiento. Por otro lado al establecer un plan de cobertura de televisión digital, se pueden fijar sitios óptimos de transmisión, lo cual contribuiría a mejorar el servicio, la disponibilidad y confiabilidad del sistema, este ultimo ligado a los costos.
Es importante destacar que en algunos países la distribución de la señal en las redes de transmisión analógica se desarrolló tradicionalmente de manera independiente por cada uno de los operadores, asumiendo los costos de desarrollo de infraestructura, adecuación del sitio de transmisión y la compra e instalación de los equipos. La adopción del estándar de televisión digital, implica un periodo de transición en donde se transmitirá simultáneamente ambas señales, tanto analógica como digital, significando un aumento en gastos para los operadores, ya que deben asumir los costos de la nueva infraestructura y equipos en conjunto con las antiguas instalaciones destinadas para televisión analógica. Con la Televisión Digital y los beneficios comprobados que esta tecnología provee, se presenta el momento propicio para aprovechar estas ventajas y definir mediante un proceso de planificación los sitios de transmisión que ofrecen las mejores condiciones de cobertura de una zona, esto aunado a la comparticion de infraestructura lo cual permitirá no solo una reducción significativa de costos sino agilizar el proceso de transición de la Televisión Analógica a la Digital.
Como parte del proceso de implementación de la televisión digital, será necesario definir un plan de transición eficaz a fin de lograr una rápida distribución de la señal a nivel nacional. Los distintos países de la región, pueden considerar la opción de compartición de infraestructura como una de las formas de acelerar la introducción del servicio de Televisión Digital Terrestre. Una de las intenciones del documento es proporcionar las bases para su discusión por parte de las Administraciones miembros de la CITEL con la intención de ser incluido, de ser considerado pertinente, en la “Guía de Implementación de Radiodifusión de Televisión Terrenal Digital”.
En el presente documento se pretende establecer los beneficios para la introducción de la Televisión Digital Terrestre que supondría el concepto de comparticion de infraestructura por parte de los operadores.
2.- COMPARTICIÓN DE INFRAESTRUCUTURA Y EQUIPOS
La construcción de redes de radiodifusión requiere de una gran cantidad de infraestructura, que incluye instalaciones de soporte, tales como: casetas, ductos, torres, entre otros. Estas nuevas instalaciones pueden constituir, una fuerte barrera para los operadores, pues implican una gran inversión inicial y altos costos fijos.
La compartición de infraestructura y equipos es una solución para la reducción de costos, pero la manera como se puede lograr presenta múltiples vertientes que a la final dependerá de la forma como los operadores se pongan de acuerdo para poder hacer uso de esta solución. La infraestructura compartida implica la contracción de obras civiles para uso común por parte los equipos de los operadores (ejemplo: caseta), construir e instalar la torre para el montaje de las antenas de cada uno de los operadores o el uso de una antena común de transmisión, y todo el desarrollo de la zona para la ubicación de equipos necesarios para la transmisión y otros para el mantenimiento y operación. El hecho de que los transmisores de los varios operadores comparten el mismo espacio geográfico, permite que estos se conecten a un solo equipo de respaldo, el uso de una única guía de onda para el envío de la señal, y en el mejor de los casos todos los equipos se podrían conectar a una sola unidad de respaldo de energía eléctrica.
2.1.- VENTAJAS
▪ Disminución de costo: La comparticion de infraestructura reduce significativamente los costos de implementación, no solo se puede utilizar el mismo espacio geográfico, lo cual elimina la necesidad de tener que construir una nueva estructura para la preservación de los equipos de transmisión, sino que es posible por medio de un combinador multiplexar las distintas señales de los operadores y enviarlas utilizando la misma guía de onda y antena montada en una única torre, en el mejor de los casos. La inversión necesaria para la implementación de la tecnología baja al no tener que depender de cada operador individual, sino que puede dividirse entre cada uno de ellos.
▪ Incremento de penetración en menor tiempo: Se puede alcanzar niveles de cobertura similares o superiores a aquellos alcanzados en la transmisión analógica, debido a la facilidad que ofrece tener definido de antemano los sitios de repetición para cubrir las zonas deseadas, eliminando la necesidad de instalar un nuevo sitio, permitiendo utilizar la infraestructura presente en el área, como por ejemplo las torres de transmisión y de ser posible las edificaciones. Se reduce la inversión y por lo tanto aumenta el tiempo en que el operador pude responder para cubrir las necesidades del usuario. Los costos de implementación en nuevos sitios en aquellos casos en que sea necesario podrán ser divididos entre los distintos operadores interesados, lo cual aceleraría el proceso de inversión en la zona y reduciría el tiempo de implementación de la nueva infraestructura y de introducción del nuevo equipamiento.
▪ Disponibilidad y confiabilidad del servicio con menores costos: En el caso de que los transmisores de los distintos operadores compartan la misma infraestructura, es posible interconectar todos estos equipos a un único transmisor modular de respaldo. La disponibilidad del sistema, referente al porcentaje de tiempo en que la señal puede ser visualizada por los usuarios, presenta mejoras con respecto a la televisión analógica al reducir los costos en la compra de equipos de redundancia. Al utilizar un solo transmisor de respaldo se elimina la práctica tradicional de tener que respaldar cada transmisor principal. Por otro lado debido a que el transmisor de respaldo es modular, reduce las probabilidades de falla, ya que en el caso de que un modulo se dañe existen otros de respaldo, por lo tanto la redundancia de los equipos aumenta en la Televisión Digital. La disponibilidad del sistema es consecuencia directa de la confiabilidad, a mayor disponibilidad de la señal mayor será la confiabilidad que presenta el sistema.
▪ Facilita la operación y mantenimiento: al concentrar los equipos de transmisión, torre y antenas en un sitio común, es más fácil controlar la operación del sistema. Por otro lado el mantenimiento se facilita y el tiempo de respuesta ante fallas se reduce.
▪ Agiliza proceso de administración de los sitios de transmisión: De ser posible establecer una regulación para la comparticion de infraestructura, esto facilitaría el trabajo de la Administración, ya que los sitios de transmisión estarían bien definidos, lo cual agilizaría la gestión de habilitaciones y concesiones, al igual que el seguimiento y control de los operadores para velar por el debido cumplimiento de las leyes, normas y reglamentos de las telecomunicaciones.
▪ Menor impacto sobre el medio ambiente: La posibilidad de utilizar infraestructura compartida y equipos de uso común, disminuye la necesidad de construcción de nuevos sitios para la transmisión, lo cual reduce el impacto sobre el medio ambiente y permitiría el ahorro en el consumo de energía.
▪ Mejora del servicio: Todos los beneficios mencionados anteriormente son una mejora del servicio prestado con respecto a los antiguos sistemas analógicos, ya que no solo representa reducciones de costos sino que presenta mejoras en la forma como se realiza la implementación del sistema, facilitando la instalación y rápida distribución de los equipos en los distintos sitios de interés, mejoras en la operación y mantenimiento, facilitándose el acceso a los sitios con niveles superiores de seguridad, y en general agilizando el proceso de introducción de la tecnología de manera de cubrir de forma satisfactoria las necesidades de los usuarios en un tiempo más corto de despliegue y con menores costos a los que supondría una inversión por separado de cada operador.
Figura 1. Configuración 4+1. Cuatro transmisores conectados a un único transmisor de respaldo modular.
2.2.- ESQUEMAS DE COMPARTICIÓN DE INFRAESTRUCTURA
2.2.1.- Caso 1: Cada operador posee su propia infraestructura
Como se ve en la figura, se presenta la forma como tradicionalmente han trabajado los operadores de radiodifusión analógica a través de los años, cada uno posee su propia infraestructura para el suministro del servicio.
Figura 2. Infraestructura perteneciente a cada operador individual.
2.2.2.- Caso 2: Cada operador posee su infraestructura, pero estas se encuentran cercanas entre si y comparten la torre de transmisión.
Los operadores colocan los transmisores en espacios físicos diferentes, pero se encuentran cercanos y comparten la misma torre.
Figura 3. Los operadores comparten la torre.
2.2.3.- Caso 3: Los operadores comparten en su totalidad la infraestructura
Esta configuración presenta el mayor ahorro en costos, donde los transmisores comparten el espacio físico, se interconectan a un único transmisor de respaldo modular, y por medio de un combinador de señales se envía la señal multiplexada de los distintos transmisores a la torre por medio de una única guía de onda y utilizando una sola antena para la transmisión de la señal.
Figura 4. Los operadores comparten en su totalidad la infraestructura y equipo de respaldo.
3.13.1 Experiencia Nacional en la Implementación y Planificación de TDT
Para octubre del 2008 se completó la segunda fase del Proyecto de TDT en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, en donde se efectuaron nuevas pruebas técnicas en la ciudad de Caracas, esta vez incluyendo el estándar DTMBT (Digital Television Multimedia Broadcasting Terrestrial) de China.
La adopción del estándar ISDB-Tb
La adopción del estándar japonés ISDB-T con las mejoras introducidas por Brasil fue anunciada oficialmente en Venezuela por el Ministro de Ciencia, Tecnología e Industrias Intermedias el 6 de octubre de 2009, en un foro sobre Televisión Digital, realizado en la ciudad de Caracas, de esta manera dando inicio al proceso de migración gradual, a largo plazo, de la televisión analógica a la digital en el país, que se estima tener completada en un lapso de 10 años aproximadamente. El foro también sirvió de marco para la firma de un memorando de entendimiento para cooperación entre Japón y Venezuela en TV Digital y Telecomunicaciones.
Posteriormente, el día 30 de octubre del mismo año, se firmó un Memorando similar con la República Federativa del Brasil, estableciendo así alianzas internacionales con el objetivo impulsar el despliegue de la TDT en Venezuela.
Actualidad del servicio de Televisión Abierta en Venezuela
En cuanto a cobertura geográfica, los patrones de los diversos sistemas radiantes de los diferentes medios públicos y privados, abarcan el 19% de la geografía de Venezuela. Sin embargo, y debido a la distribución demográfica, se tienen números de penetración para el mismo contorno (unificado) de servicio, de 83% de la población servida.
Hoy en día existen alrededor de 375 transmisores en más de 260 sitios de transmisión de televisión analógica a nivel nacional. La cantidad de operadores del servicio de televisión abierta son 63 Privados y 12 Públicos. El espectro empleado abarca los canales VHF 2-13 y UHF 21-69. Actualmente, para el servicio de TV Analógica, se emplea el transporte satelital, redes de microondas, y en menor proporción la fibra óptica para el envío de la programación a los transmisores.
En el otorgamiento original de las concesiones de espectro, en los inicios de televisión analógica en Venezuela (1953), se trató (en la medida de lo posible) de otorgar el mismo canal de RF a las operadoras en los diferentes ámbitos geográficos, limitado únicamente por consideraciones topográficas y de compatibilidad electromagnética con otros servicios y con canales adyacentes ya existentes. No existen redes de frecuencia única (SFN) para televisión analógica en el país, solo redes multi-frecuencia (MFN). Para el despliegue de la red de televisión digital terrestre, se preferirá el empleo de redes isofrecuenciales (SFN). Las zonas de sombra serán cubiertas con repetidores de relleno (Gap-fillers), muy diferenciados en cuanto a niveles de potencia y podrán emplear la misma frecuencia, si cumplen con las relaciones de protección y máscaras de señal crítica. El empleo de antenas directivas, de alta relación frente/atrás (front/back) permitirá la cobertura en zonas con nivel de señal marginal. Sin embargo, la distribución por cable en zonas de sombra pequeñas, no se desestima, sobre todo, luego de un análisis de viabilidad económica.
Avances de TDT en Venezuela en 2010
Enmarcado en el proyecto de Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT), coordinado por el Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Ciencia, Tecnología e Industrias Intermedias, a través de sus entes adscritos: Centro Nacional de Desarrollo e Investigación en Telecomunicaciones (CENDIT), RedTV y Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), en coordinación con la Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL), se encuentra el desarrollo del Proyecto de Planificación de Espectro para la implementación de la TDT en Venezuela.
El Proyecto se dividió en dos (02) fases, una primera que tiene como objetivo establecer parámetros técnicos de operación y planificación “preliminar” de espectro para la realización de “pruebas de campo” que serán coordinadas por el CENDIT en las cinco (5) ciudades principales del país y una segunda fase que tendrá como finalidad generar la planificación “definitiva” de espectro a nivel nacional para la implementación de TDT.
En la fase uno (01) se establecerán los canales de transmisión a ser utilizados en las pruebas de campo de TDT en las cinco (05) ciudades propuestas por el CENDIT y RedTv, y se recomendarán los parámetros técnicos a utilizar: Potencia de Transmisor, Constelación de la Modulación de Señal, Tasa de Codificación (FEC) y tipo de Antena, a fin de alcanzar la mayor cobertura posible en las ciudades. A continuación se hace una descripción de los principales parámetros fijados:
1.- La tasa de codificación se fijó en 3/4 para tener un equilibrio entre la redundancia de la información y la robustez de las señal, lo que trae como consecuencia que los receptores requieran una Relación Señal a Ruido (C/N) media.
2.- La constelación de modulación se estableció en dos (02) valores: una en 16 QAM para la difusión de programas de televisión con resolución estándar (SD) y la otra en 64 QAM necesaria para señales de televisión en alta definición (HD).
3.- La ganancia de las antenas de transmisión se fijó en 15 dBd.
4.- Las simulaciones se basaron en el ambiente de recepción fija interno, con un FEC de ¾ y un intervalo de guarda de 1/8.
5.- Para la selección del canal de transmisión por sitio, primero fue necesaria la elaboración de un mapa de canales de UHF ocupados de acuerdo al sitio de transmisión en cada estado donde se ubicaban las ciudades de interés. Se decidió emplear el criterio de otorgamiento del canal adyacente superior o inferior al canal analógico existente en UHF para con ello, ofrecer la posibilidad de reuso de infraestructura, hasta el punto de considerar el empleo del sistema radiante existente durante el período de transmisión simultánea de señales analógica y digital.
6.- Luego de otorgar a los operadores analógicos en UHF, un canal digital adyacente superior o inferior, se procederá a asignar un canal disponible en la banda UHF a cada operador de televisión analógica en VHF (que formará parte del dividendo digital).
7.- En la medida de lo posible, se asignarán canales digitales inferiores al canal 52 UHF, a los fines de facilitar la posterior desocupación de los canales 52 al 69 como parte del dividendo digital.
Para la planificación del espectro, se consideró el uso de una hoja de cálculo basada en la Recomendación UIT-R P.1546, para la determinación de cobertura de sistemas de transmisión de Televisión Digital Terrestre.
Mediante dicha tabla se puede especificar los parámetros de transmisión como lo son la frecuencia de operación, el esquema de modulación, el ambiente de recepción, todo lo anterior permite determinar el nivel de intensidad de campo requerido en los puntos de recepción, el cual en conjunto con el patrón de radiación, permite calcular la potencia requerida en el transmisor para cubrir el área de interés. En la Figura siguiente se muestra la tabla desarrollada con la hoja de cálculo.
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Hoja de cálculo de Planificación de TDT.
Pruebas de Campo para 2011
Una vez finalizadas las pruebas comparativas, donde se estimó la programación de parámetros y prestaciones similares en los transmisores en los estándares DVB-T, ISDB-T y DTMB, se realizará en 2011, una nueva serie de pruebas destinadas a conocer el máximo alcance con un determinado grado de calidad, mediante la medición de parámetros como: Nivel de Señal, Relación Señal a Ruido, BER, MER y cantidad de errores en la señal de difusión (Broadcast Transport Stream, BTS).
Las pruebas a realizar incluyen los siguientes pasos:
1.1 Caracterización del emplazamiento del transmisor de prueba: Las pruebas se realizarán en al menos cuatro (04) ciudades principales de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, cuya topografía represente las diversas zonas que caractericen la mayor parte del territorio venezolano:
• Zonas mediana y altamente urbanizadas (Valencia, Barquisimeto y Maracay entre otras);
• Zonas costeras (Maracaibo, Puerto La Cruz, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, entre otras);
• Zonas montañosas (estados Mérida, Táchira y Trujillo, principalmente);
• Zonas llanas (San Carlos, Valle de La Pascua, Barinas, El Tigre, entre otras).
1.2 Estimación de cobertura mediante los diversos métodos de predicción de propagación radioeléctrica para la sub banda UHF de Televisión (canales 21 a 69) para cada uno de los emplazamientos del transmisor.
1.3 Determinación de la ubicación de los sitios susceptibles a ser catalogados como puntos de medición, despeje con LOS ó NLOS hacia el transmisor y un nivel de señal recibida mayor al umbral de recepción del decodificador.
1.4 Medición de parámetros fundamentales de operación y calidad de servicio de Televisión Digital Terrestre, distinguidos como MER, BER, Intensidad de Campo Eléctrico (dBuV/m), nivel de señal recibida (dBm), relación C/N y Diagrama de Constelación, para cada grupo de parámetros de transmisión (Modulación: QPSK, 16/64 QAM; FEC: 2/3; 3/4; GI: 1/8; 1/16) que se permita programar en el transmisor.
Informe final de las Pruebas de Campo para 2011
Se ordenarán los datos recopilados en campo y se contrastarán con los valores obtenidos en los modelos predictivos, estableciendo (de ser posible) una regla de correspondencia que permita ajustar las estimaciones para que los resultados en campo se puedan estimar con una mayor precisión.
Los contornos de cobertura, tanto predichos como medidos, se graficarán mediante un método de interpolación por triangulación inversa (IPW) y se compararán a fin de encontrar un factor de correlación bidimensional.
4. EXAMPLES OF DTT SERVICES, APPLICATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES
4.1. CBS (Attachment 6-1)
4.2. WRAL (Attachment 6-2)
4.3. APTS (Attachment 6-3)
4.4. TV Globo (Attachment 6-4)
4.5. Televisa (Attachment 6-5)
4.6. Implementation Approaches and Cost Implications
4.7. Others
Appendix 1
ATSC Standards, Recommended Practices, and Implementation Guidelines
1. Overview of ATSC Standards and Recommended Practices (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0620/05)
2. Guide to DTV Standards (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0407/04)
3. ATSC Standard A/52B: Digital Audio Compression (AC-3) Standard, Rev. B (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0533/04)
4. ATSC Standard A/53E: ATSC Digital Television Standard, Parts 1 – 6, 2007
5. ATSC Recommended Practice A/54A: Guide to the Use of the ATSC Digital Television Standard, with Corrigendum No. 1
6. Approved Proposed Standard A/57A: Content Identification and Labeling for ATSC Transport (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0238/03)
7. ATSC Recommended Practice A/58: Harmonization with DVB SI in the Use of the ATSC Digital Television Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.-0958/06)
8. ATSC Standard A/64A: Transmission Measurement and Compliance for Digital Television, Rev. A (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0956/06)
9. ATSC Standard A/65C: Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast and Cable, Revision C (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0957/06)
10. ATSC Recommended Practice A/69: Program and System Information Protocol Implementation Guidelines for Broadcasters (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0240/03)
11. ATSC Standard A/70A: Conditional Access System for Terrestrial Broadcast, Rev. A with Amendment No. 1 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1175/06)
12. ATSC Standard A/71: Parameterized Services Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1465/07)
13. ATSC Recommended Practice A/75: Developing DTV Field Test Plans (P2-059/02)
14. ATSC Standard A/76B: Programming Metadata Communication Protocol Standard, Revision B(CCP.II-RADIO/P.II-RADIO/doc. 1587/08)
15. ATSC Recommended Practice A/78: Transport Stream Verification (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1466/07)
16. ATSC Standard A/80: Modulation and Coding Requirements for Digital TV (DTV) Applications Over Satellite (P2-0339/02)
17. ATSC Standard A/81: Direct-to-Home Satellite Broadcast Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0241/03)
18. ATSC Standard A/90 with Amendment 1 and Corrigenda 1 and 2: Data Broadcast Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0242/03)
19. ATSC Recommended Practice A/91: Implementation Guidelines for the Data Broadcast Standard (P2-0460/02)
20. ATSC Standard A/92: Delivery of IP Multicast Sessions over Data Broadcast Standard (P2-0462/02)
21. ATSC Standard A/93: Synchronized/Asynchronous Trigger Standard (P2-0463/02)
22. ATSC Standard A/94: ATSC Data Application Reference Model (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0243/03)
23. ATSC Standard A/95: Transport Stream File System Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0244/03)
24. ATSC Standard A/96: ATSC Interaction Channel Protocols (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0407/04)
25. ATSC Standard A/97: Software Download Data Service (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0618/05)
26. ATSC Standard A/98: System Renewability Message Transport
27. ATSC Standard A/100: DTV Application Software Environment - Level 1 (DASE-1)
1. A/100-1, DASE-1 Part 1: Introduction, Architecture, and Common Facilities (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
2. A/100-2, DASE-1 Part 2: Declarative Applications Environment (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
3. A/100-3, DASE-1 Part 3: Procedural Applications and Environment (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
4. A/100-4, DASE-1 Part 4: Applications Programming Interface (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
5. A/100-5, DASE-1 Part 5: ZIP Archive Resource Format (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
6. A/100-6, DASE-1 Part 6: Security (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
7. A/100-7, DASE-1 Part 7: Application Delivery System - ARM Binding (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
8. A/100-8, DASE-1 Part 8: Conformance (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0248/03)
28. ATSC Standard A101: Advanced Common Applications Platform (ACAP) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0849/05)
29. ATSC Standard A102: ACAP Service Signaling and Announcement (CCP.II-RADIO /doc.1174/06)
30. ATSC Standard A/110B: Synchronization Standard for Distributed Transmission, Revision B (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1589/08)
31. ATSC Recommended Practice A/111: Design Of Synchronized Multiple Transmitter Networks (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0951/06)
32. ATSC Recommended Practice A/112: E-VSB Implementation Guidelines (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0952/06)
33. ATSC Candidate Standard: Part 1 of Proposed Doc. A/72, “Video System Characteristics of AVC in the ATSC Digital Television System” (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1588/08)
34. ATSC Candidate Standard: Part 2 of Proposed Doc. A/72, “AVC Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics” (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1588/08)
35. Working Draft: Part 1 of Proposed Doc. A/73, “Video System Characteristics of VC-1 in the ATSC Digital Television System” (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1590/08)
36. Working Draft: Part 2 of Proposed Doc. A/73, “VC-1 Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics” (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.159008)
37. ATSC Technology Group Report T3-600: DTV Signal Reception and Processing Considerations (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0407p10/04)
38. ATSC Technology and Standards Group Report TSG/676: Caption Carriage in E-VSB and with New Codes (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0953/06)
39. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/095: Top Down Summary Report (P2-0341/01)
40. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/151: Implementation of Data Broadcasting in a DTV Station (P2-0348/01)
41. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/161: PTS Time Stamping AC-3 Bit Streams (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0959/06)
42. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/190: Essential Information to be Carried in DTV Program Streams (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0960/06)
43. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/191: Relative Timing of Sound and Vision for Broadcast Operations (Appendix 1-33) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0407/04)
44. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/214: Program Interchange Identification Requirements and Solutions (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0961/06)
45. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/232: DTV Transport and Data Interfaces (Appendix 1-37) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0538/04)
46. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/266: Report on Latency and Timing Issues (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0962/06)
47. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/275: Data Content and Delivery for Control of the Digital Broadcast Transport Stream and PSIP Generation
48. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/277: Assessment of Data Content and Delivery for Control of the Digital Broadcast Transport Stream and PSIP Generation
49. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/312: Optimization of Image Formatting for Transmission and Display (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0536/04)
50. ATSC Implementation Finding IS/318: Multichannel Audio Program Delivery and Metadata Considerations (Pre-emission) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0535/04)
51. ATSC Certification Mark Policy (B/35) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.0954/06)
52. ATSC Standard: Content Identification and Labeling for ATSC Transport (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1860/09)
53. ATSC Standard: Video System Characteristics of AVC in the ATSC Digital Television System (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1862/09)
54. ATSC Standard: AVC Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1862/09)
55. ATSC Standard: Automatic Transmitter Power Control (ATPC) Data Return Link (DRL) Standard (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1863/09)
56. ATSC Standard: Carriage of Legacy TV Data Services (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1865/09)
57. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 1 – Mobile/Handheld Digital Television System (A/153, Part 1:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
58. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 2 – RF/Transmission System Characteristics (A/153, Part 2:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
59. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 3 – Service Multiplex and Transport Subsystem Characteristics (A/153, Part 3:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
60. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 4 – Announcement (A/153, Part 4:2009) Advanced Television (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
61. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 5 – Application Framework (A/153, Part 5:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
62. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 6 – Service Protection (A/153, Part 6:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
63. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 7 – AVC and SVC Video System Characteristics (A/153, Part 7:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
64. Candidate Standard: ATSC-M/H Standard, Part 8 – HE AAC Audio System Characteristics (A/153, Part 8:2009) (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1867/09)
65. ATSC Recommended Practice: Transmission Measurement and Compliance for Digital Television (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1869/09)
66. ATSC Recommended Practice: Conversion of ATSC Signals for Distribution to NTSC Viewers (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1871/09)
Appendix 2
Brazilian Digital Terrestrial Television Standards
1. Transmission System for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting, version July/2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1477/07)
2. Source coding and multiplexing – Part 1: Video, version July/2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1483/07 c1)
3. Source coding and multiplexing – Part 2: Audio, version July/2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1490/07 c1)
4. Source coding and multiplexing – Part 3: Program Specific Information , version July/2007
(CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1491/07 c1)
5. Multiplexing and Service Information – Part 1: Service Information to Broadcasting , version July/2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1494/07 c1)
6. Multiplexing and Service Information – Part 2: Data structure and basic SI information, version July/2007 (CCP.II-RADIO/doc.1497/07 r1)
Appendix 3
DVB Standards, Recommended Practices, and Implementation Guidelines
In the following section the key documents are listed. Each document of standards is explained briefly; the details can be found in the original documents, which are public through ETSI web site. More information can be found through DVB consortium web site ( ).
1. ETSI EN 300 744 V1.5.1 (2004-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television.
This document is numbered within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. The document provides detail information on the digital terrestrial television system known as DVB-T, for the characteristics related to Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television.
The system is defined as the functional block of equipment performing the adaptation of the baseband TV signals from the output of the MPEG-2 transport multiplexer, to the terrestrial channel characteristics. The following processes shall be applied to the data stream:
o - transport multiplex adaptation and randomization for energy dispersal;
o - outer coding (i.e. Reed-Solomon code);
o - outer interleaving (i.e. convolutional interleaving);
o - inner coding (i.e. punctured convolutional code);
o - inner interleaving (either native or in-depth);
o - mapping and modulation;
o - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission.
The system is directly compatible with MPEG-2 coded TV signals ISO/IEC 13818. Since the system is being designed for digital terrestrial television services to operate within the existing VHF and UHF spectrum allocation for analogue transmissions, it is required that the System provides sufficient protection against high levels of Co-Channel Interference (CCI) and Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI) emanating from existing PAL/SECAM/NTSC services. Recognizing that the spectrum is a scarce resource, its desirable that the System allows the maximum spectrum efficiency when used within the VHF and UHF bands; this requirement can be achieved by utilizing Single Frequency Network (SFN) operation.
2. ETSI TR 101 190 V1.2.1 (2004-11). Technical Report. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB);
Implementation guidelines for DVB terrestrial services; Transmission aspects.
This document is numbered within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. The document provides practical information on the way to implement a digital terrestrial television system based on the capabilities of the DVB-T, and concerning transmission aspects. It gives the first guidelines for implementation of Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) transmitting networks. Its primary intention is to be a guide to the transmission aspects.
The contents include a general description of network topologies for single Frequency Networks (SFN) and Multi-Frequency Networks (MFN), the possibilities and constraints when sharing transmitting sites with analogue TV and a summary of planning parameters. A basic introduction to distribution of MPEG-2 Transport Streams (TS) to DVB-T transmitters is also included (timing aspects are discussed, as well).
3. ETSI EN 302 304 V1.1.1 (2004-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Transmission System for Handheld Terminals (DVB-H).
This document is numbered within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. The document provides detail information on the transmission system for handheld terminals system known as DVB-H. It specifies the transmission system using ETSI Digital Video Broadcasting standards to provide an efficient way of carrying multimedia services over digital terrestrial broadcasting networks to handheld terminals (DVB-H). It identifies ETSI standards in which functionalities and parameters shall be implemented in order to deliver DVB-H compliant services.
Although the DVB-T transmission system has proven its ability to serve fixed, portable and mobile terminals, handheld terminals (defined as a light battery powered apparatus) require specific features from the transmission system serving them:
• as battery powered, the transmission system shall offer them the possibility to repeatedly power off some part of the reception chain to increase the battery usage duration;
• as targeting nomadic users, the transmission system shall ease access to the DVB-H services when receivers leave a given transmission cell and enter a new one;
• as expected to serve various situations of use (indoor and outdoor, pedestrian and inside moving vehicle), the transmission system shall offer sufficient flexibility/scalability to allow reception of DVB-H services at various speeds, while optimizing transmitter coverage;
• as services are expected to be delivered in an environment suffering high levels of manmade noise, the transmission system shall offer the means to mitigate their effects on the receiving capabilities;
• as DVB-H aims to provide a generic way to serve handheld terminals, in various part of the world, the transmission system shall offer the flexibility to be used in various transmission bands and channel bandwidths.
In the standard, a full DVB-H system is defined by combining elements in the physical and link
layers as well as service information. DVB-H makes use of the following technology elements for
the link layer and the physical layer:
• Link layer: time-slicing in order to reduce the average power consumption of the terminaland enabling smooth and seamless frequency handover; forward error correction for multiprotocol encapsulated data (MPE-FEC) for an improvement in C/N-performance and Doppler performance in mobile channels, also improving tolerance to impulse interference.
• Physical layer: DVB-T (EN 300 744) with the following technical elements specifically targeting DVB-H use: DVB-H signalling in the TPS-bits to enhance and speed up service discovery. Cell identifier is also carried on TPS-bits to support quicker signal scan and frequency handover on mobile receivers; 4K-mode for trading off mobility and SFN cell size, allowing single antenna reception in medium SFNs at very high speed, adding thus flexibility in the network design; In-depth symbol interleaver for the 2K and 4K-modes for further improving their robustness in mobile environment and impulse noise conditions.
It should be mentioned that both time-slicing and MPE-FEC technology elements, as they are implemented on the link layer, do not touch the DVB-T physical layer in any way. It is also important to notice that the payloads of DVB-H are IP-datagrams or other network layer datagrams encapsulated into MPE-sections.
4. ETSI TR 102 377 V1.2.1 (2005-11).Technical Report. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); DVB-H Implementation Guidelines.
This document provides guidelines for the use and implementation of ETSI Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) standard in the context of providing an efficient way of providing services to handheld terminals through broadcasting networks.
The document should be read in conjunction with the DVB-T Implementation Guidelines since many transmission aspects and network topologies (e.g. Single Frequency Networks and Multi-Frequency Networks) are not described in detail in the present document because DVB-H is built
upon DVB-T.
Now, in the following section, more DVB-T related documents from the European Standardization Institute (ETSI) are listed. The details can be found in the original documents, which are public through ETSI web site. More information can be found through DVB consortium web site ( ).
5. ETSI EN 302 296 V1.1.1 (2005-01). Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM); Transmitting equipment for the digital television broadcast service, Terrestrial (DVBT); Harmonized EN under article 3.2 of the R&TTE Directive.
6. ETSI EN 301 958 V1.1.1 (2002-03). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Interaction channel for Digital Terrestrial Television (RCT) incorporating Multiple Access OFDM.
7. ETSI TR 101 154 V1.4.1 (2000-07). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Implementation guidelines for the use of MPEG-2 Systems, Video and Audio in satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasting applications.
8. ETSI TS 101 154 V1.8.1 (2007-07). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Specification for the use of Video and Audio Coding in Broadcasting Applications based on the MPEG-2 Transport Stream.
Now, in the following section, more DVB-H related documents from the European Standardization Institute (ETSI) are listed. The details can be found in the original documents, which are public through ETSI web site. More information can be found through DVB consortium web site ( ).
9. ETSI TR 102 473 V1.1.1 (2006-04). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); IP Datacast over DVB-H: Use Cases and Services.
10. ETSI TR 102 469 V1.1.1 (2006-05). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); IP Datacast over DVB-H: Architecture.
11. ETSI TR 102 401 V1.1.1 (2005-05). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Transmission to Handheld Terminals (DVB-H);Validation Task Force Report.
12. ETSI TS 102 472 V1.2.1 (2006-12). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); IP Datacast over DVB-H: Content Delivery Protocols
13. ETSI TS 102 471 V1.2.1 (2006-11). Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); IP Datacast over DVB-H: Electronic Service Guide (ESG)[pic]
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[1] CCP.II-RADIO/doc. 2260/10
[2] 2387
[3] 2433
[4] Decree nº 4901, of November 2003:
[5] Decree nº 5820, of June 2006:
[6] Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT) is the Brazilian Standardization Forum.
[7] In 2004, in the evaluation of Internet content, Colombia ranked 23rd in the world and 4th in Latin America, mainly because of the amount and quality of the information published by the state.
[8] It should be noted that the software industry and related activities expanded substantially in the 1990s and, for that reason, plans should contemplate more than meeting national demand, profiting from the industry’s competitive advantages. In addition, for several years, Colombian television productions have been exported with great success, implying that national industry may be able to continue to profit from its competitive advantages while adapting to digital format.
[9] P2!R-2457e.doc
[10]
[11]
[12] P2!R-2295 i.doc
[13] P2!R-2381.doc
[14] A excepción del estándar ATSC que por motivos propios no envió el equipamiento dentro de los tiempos requeridos para el efecto.
[15] Expedida por la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones, UIT.
[16] P2!R-2451 e.doc
[17] P2!R-2281 e.doc
[18] In fact, the frequencies used for those channels have already been reallocated for new uses, including public safety, and commercial mobile (terrestrial), fixed, and broadcasting. During the transition, new services are not allowed to interfere with broadcast television operations.
[19] The ATSC DTV system performance characteristics used in developing the FCC’s initial DTT Table of Allotments are set forth in Appendix A, Table II of the FCC’s Sixth Report and Order in MB Docket No. 87-268, 12 FCC Record 14588 (1997). These characteristics also appear in relevant parts in Section 73.623(c)(2) of the FCC rules, 47 C.F.R. §73.623(c)(2). The analog-to-DTT and DTT-to-DTT taboo D/U interference ratios were so low that they were considered not an important factor in the evaluation of allotment changes and therefore were not included in the rules. Note also that the DTT-to-analog UHF taboo relationships used in the allotment planning process (and now for modification of the initial DTT allotments) are much less stringent than those implied in the analog-to-analog taboo channel spacing distances set forth in Section 73.698 of the FCC rules, 47 C.F.R. §73.698.
[20] The system-independent technical planning factors are set forth in Appendix A, Table I of the FCC’s Sixth Report and Order, supra.
[21] The current data base of analog TV station technical facilities is available on "". Note that this data base incorporates changes to the data base used in developing the initial DTT Table of Allotments in 1997, and includes modifications of existing stations and new stations.
[22] The attenuation requirements are based on a measurement bandwidth of 500 kHz. The FCC’s DTT out-of-band emission attenuation requirements are set forth in Section 73.622(h) of its rules, 47 C.F.R. §73.622(h).
[23] See David S. Johnson, Cecilia R. Aragon, Lyle A. McGeoch and Catherine Schevon, "Optimization by Simulated Annealing: An Experimental Evaluation, Part II (Graph Coloring and Number Partitioning)," Operations Research, Vol. 39, May-June 1991. In addition to the simulated annealing software, the FCC also obtained software that incorporates a method known as "Lagrangian Relaxation." This method and its software implementation were developed by Decision-Science Applications, Inc. (DSA) under contract to the FCC. The DSA DTT allotment software is an extension of earlier work by DSA that produced the computer software used by the FCC to develop new FM radio allotments in the early 1980s. The DSA software complements the simulated annealing software, and partial allotment solutions developed through either software package can be used in the other so that the two packages can be used together. The FCC’s DTT allotment software is available on request to the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology.
[24] “Allotments” are channels at specific locations on which stations are allowed to operate TV service. The “Table of Allotments” is a listing of all the allotted channels used for TV service. In the FCC rules, there currently are separate Tables of Allotments for DTT and analog channels.
[25] Computer code for the Longley-Rice point-to-point radio propagation prediction model is published in an appendix to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Agency’s Report 82-100, A Guide to the Use of the ITS Irregular Terrain Model in the Area Prediction Mode, authors G.A. Hufford, A.G. Longley and W.A. Kissick, U.S. Department of Commerce, April 1982. Some modifications to the code were described by G.A. Hufford in a memorandum to users of the model dated January 30, 1985. With these modifications, the code is referred to as Version 1.2.2 of the Longley-Rice model. Additional information on how the FCC evaluated DTT and analog service and interference is provided in Appendix B to the Sixth Report and Order.
[26] The Grade B contour of analog TV broadcast stations is defined in Section 73.683 of the FCC rules, see 47 CFR §73.683.
[27] The DTT Table also included allotments for non-continental U.S. states and territories, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
[28] The number of instances where TV stations have both channels outside the core TV spectrum has since been reduced to 24 as a result of channel changes requested and arranged by individual licensees.
[29] P2!R-2286 e.doc
-----------------------
Que crea
Presentación de los estándares ATSC, ISDB-Tb y
DVB-T por los promotores (Foro Internacional TDT)
Apertura del Sector de Telecomunicaciones en Costa Rica
(Tratado de Libre Comercio RD-CAFTA)
Emisión de la Ley LFMET N°8660 y la Ley LGT N°8642
El Plan Nacional de Desarrollo de las Telecomunicaciones (PNDT) que establece una meta para permitir la transición a la TDT
Creación de la Comisión Mixta Especial
Decreto N°35657-MP-MINAET y N°35771-MP-MINAET
Establecimiento de los Ejes de Acción y Subcomisiones
Eje Economico
Eje Tecnológico Subcomisión Técnica
Eje Social
Ejecución de Pruebas de Campo
Rendición de informe técnico sobre las pruebas
Rendición de informe sobre los costos de STBs por cada estándar
Rendición de informe acerca del impacto social en Costa Rica
Emisión del informe final de la Comisión Mixta que recomienda el estándar ISDB-Tb
Adopción del estándar ISDB-Tb Decreto N° 36009 MP-MINAET
Febr, 2010
May, 2009
Oct, 2007
Jun -Ago, 2008
Dic, 2009
Nov -Ene2010
Mar, 2010
Abr, 2010
Abr, 2010
Jun, 2010
Devolución de bandas de frecuencias
Replanteamiento de los Ejes de Acción de la Comisión
Eje Socio-Económico
Eje Tecnológico
Eje de Interactividad y Contenidos
Rendición de Informe Técnico sobre re-canalización
Emisión del Plan de Solidaridad, el Esquema de Cooperación Internacional y el Plan de Información y Divulgación
Emisión de una Política Nacional de Promoción de la Industria Local de Contenidos
Acciones posteriores
Apagón analógico
May-Jun 2010
Ago, 2010
Propuesto: 2017
Implementation
Post-production
Master
Microwave link
Microwave link
Tower/antennas
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